The Shinobi Alchemist
by Hexalys
Summary: A Shinobi seeking revenge on the Kyūbi summons the Gate, sending eight year old Naruto into the realm of Alchemy. There the young boy meets friends and foes alike as he searches for the Philosopher Stone in order to get back home. The question is, when Naruto finds himself surrounded by those dear friends, will he even want to go back?
1. The Gate of Truth

**Disclaimer**: I do not own the rights to Naruto nor Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

First off, I want to make it clear that there will be no pairings involving Naruto from the FMA world, but the pairings of the FMA characters will stay the same. Also please note that there will be no slash.

As for the terminology, I'll be swapping between English and Japanese throughout the story depending on how I feel about the words. For instance I have Naruto call the Third Hokage Old Man and not Jiji, but then I'll have Naruto use the word Baa-chan and not Grandma. This may be a little confusing, but I feel more comfortable writing this way.

Please enjoy and leave lot of reviews!

~The Shinobi Alchemist~

Chapter 1: The Gate of Truth

To say that Naruto was confused would be a grave understatement at the moment.

He didn't know how it had happened or why, but the eight year old academy student found himself standing before a giant floating gate. He eyed it nervously, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, an instinct really. Something inside the child screamed at him to stay away from the ominous and massive thing.

He turned around, looking for the Shinobi who had been in front of him not even a few seconds ago. The man had broken into his apartment, cursing him and saying he'd have his revenge. Revenge for what Naruto had no idea.

The man had tied him down before he could run away or call for help and had bitten his thumb before doing some hand signs Naruto could remember learning in class. The man had shouted something about summoning "judgment" and then everything faded away into white. The next thing Naruto knew, he was standing in front of a gate bigger than Konoha's.

He was about to open his mouth to yell and ask if anybody was there, when his instincts suddenly went crazy, demanding that he turn around. Following his instincts, since they had never let him down before, Naruto turned to come face to face with a… kid?

_It was a pure white, nearly formless being almost indistinguishable from the rest of the endless white expanse which surrounded the Gate, but for a shadowy outline. _

A shadow that's what it reminded Naruto of; only it was white instead of black. In class, he had been taught that a shadow could either be a Shinobi's greatest ally or deadliest enemy. It could shield him from his foes or hide his attackers, and at the moment, Naruto didn't think that this shadow was his friend.

"**Well hello there Mr. ****Jinchūriki****, it's not often that a person from this side of the Gate summons me, let alone for such a dark purpose.**" The white shadow said before it gave a smile that was too large to belong on its' face. Naruto shivered at the unnatural dual voice the creature spoke with, somehow able to sound like a child, woman and man all at once. "**Two Taboos at the same time, two people on this side of the Gate and two on the other. One half doing it for love and the other half doing it for hate.**"

"W-what are y-you s-shadow?" Naruto asked, not even bothering to hide how terrified he was like he usually did. The Shinobi who had attacked only moments ago was not the first person to ever try to hurt him. He'd been attacked by civilians and Shinobi before and they _had_ hurt him, but the Shinobi in white masks had always shown up before anything really bad happened to him. But Naruto knew, he _knew_, no one would find him here.

No one was coming to save him and that thing just kept smiling at him, like it knew something horrible that he didn't.

"**Oho, I'm so glad you asked! I am called by many names. I am the World. I am Universe. I am God. I am Truth. I am All. I am One and I am You**.** Now it would seem I have another name to add to my many titles, I am Shadow.**" The thing threw its hands up into the air as a mockery of merriment.

"G-god? _You mean I'm dead!?_" Naruto shouted in shock. He didn't remember that Shinobi killing him, but if he _was_ in front of God, what else could it be? The young boy crouched down and wrapped his hands around his knees, trying his hardest not to cry. He had promised himself a year ago that he wasn't going to cry anymore.

"**Dead? No, you are simply in God's domain young ****Jinchūriki****. The Shinobi who summoned me wished for you to be taken into the Gate, wished for vengeance. He was a fool, but he has already paid his toll and what he desires has already been set into motion.**" For a second Naruto thought that –_God, Shadow, Truth_– looked sad, even with that wide smile still plastered on his face.

"**You are fortunate that he has paid for your toll as well child.**" As the Shadow said this Naruto heard the Gate behind him open and he turned to see small shadow-like hands shoot out towards him. And an eye, larger and more terrifying than Naruto had ever seen, stared down at him, damning him with its gaze.

He tried to move, to get away, but the shadows wrapped themselves around him too quickly and no matter how much he struggled they wouldn't let go. He cried out for the Shadow to help, for surely God wouldn't let this darkness take him.

Truth shook its head slowly, its grin disappearing as the shadows dragged Naruto deeper into the darkness.

"**The fault does not lie with me, Mr.** **Jinchūriki****, but with the one who brought you to this realm. The only kindness I can offer you is that the Shinobi has paid the Ultimate Toll. I wonder though, if I will see you again…**" And then the Gate closed, blocking the Shadow and the light from Naruto's wide cerulean eyes.

For a second all he could see was darkness and he thought for sure that he'd been sent to Hell, that God had hated him just as much as the villagers of Konoha. Then, suddenly, Naruto was being hurled through a tunnel of twisting images and information. It only took a second for him to realize that the projections were going straight into his head, making him learn things he'd never thought existed.

_Alchemy, Transmutation Circles, Equivalent Exchange._

The words were nothing to him at first and then he suddenly understood what it all really _meant_, but the information just kept coming and it was too much. More information poured in, but this time it was about automobiles, telephones, and other things that he'd never known about _and it was too much._

_Military, Amestris, Ishval._

Rules and regulations for military procedures, how to fire a gun and use other weapons. How to interrogate a prisoner and treat minor wounds. The counties and capitals of Amestris, its profits and peoples. The teachings of Ishvala and the destruction of his children, there was so much blood, too many corpses _**and**__**it was too much!**_

"Please God, Shadow and Truth, make it stop! _It's too much…_ _IT'S TOO MUCH!_" Naruto begged and screamed, willing to do anything to make it all stop!

And then it did.

He stood outside the Gate once more, hands reaching out for someone, _anyone_, to pull him out of that damn darkness. He was panting and sweating, and every muscle begged for him to just collapse, but he couldn't, not while he was still near the Gate.

It took Naruto only a moment to realize that he was no longer alone. God was there, but so was someone else, a boy with blond hair and a little bit taller than him with his left leg missing. Before Naruto could say anything, the white started to fade and the boy was shouting for him to wait, but he couldn't.

It was too much…

~The Shinobi Alchemist~

When Naruto next awoke, he found himself lying in an unfamiliar bed wearing pajamas and greeted to the sun shining through an open window. He rubbed his still too tired eyes, trying to figure out where he was. It all came back to him in a flash.

The Shinobi who'd tried to kill him, the Gate and the Shadow. The information, all of it, and he was glad, so very glad that the pain had receded, that he no longer felt like his head was going to burst. It was startling, how much he knew. Chemicals, engineering, history and fighting, all the information was there, waiting to be used. And he wanted to, Naruto wanted to use Alchemy so badly, but he had to think first.

It was so… odd. He was smarter, much smarter than he'd been before. He knew, before the Gate, he would have been screaming for answers at this moment. Trying out Alchemy or anything else that he'd gained from the Gate without so much as a second thought. Now? Now he _wanted_ to think, Alchemy could wait, the situation couldn't. Maturity, that's what it was, huh. The Old Man would be proud. '_Okay, first things first, what the hell happened to me?_'

He could remember what happened before the Gate, a Shinobi had broken into his home to assassinate him. He'd been an older man, not Old Man old, but older then Iruka-sensei. The Shinobi had been crying, yelling and blaming Naruto for the death of his daughter, her husband and unborn grandchild. The damn fox, that was what the Shinobi had called him.

It wasn't the first time he'd been called a fox. It was an insult that Naruto had never really understood before. Now he could easily see the link, there had only been one fox that had wronged Konoha, the Nine Tailed Fox. Why those few villagers had called him that, Naruto still had no idea, but at least he now knew who they'd been comparing him to.

Kyūbi no Yōko, a true monster and the most hated enemy Konoha ever had.

After the Shinobi had said his fill and had directed a few kicks at Naruto's unprotected stomach, the man had said that he's needed to suffer. That judgment for his sins had finally come. The Shinobi had bit his thumb hard enough to draw blood and had then performed a jutsu. The next thing Naruto knew, he was in front of the Gate, standing in God's domain.

"**I am the World. I am Universe. I am God. I am Truth. I am All. I am One and I am You. I am Shadow.**"

'_Taboo, the Truth had said that the Shinobi made a Taboo as well as someone on the other side of the Gate._' He understood how a Taboo was committed through Alchemy now, human transmutation, but Naruto didn't know how the Shinobi had managed to commit a Taboo. Alchemy didn't exist in his world–

Naruto suddenly gripped his head in dread.

'_Oh God, Shadow and Truth!_' He was on the other side of the Gate, in another world completely! How it was possible, again Naruto had no idea, but it was a fact. Old Man, his home, his dream to become Hokage, it was all gone! He closed his eyes to hold back the tears he promised he would no longer shed. '_I will not cry, I will not cry, I will not cry!_'

"**Two Taboos at the same time, two people on this side of the Gate and two on the other.**"

Naruto's eyes shot open in realization. It was possible to open the Gate again; the Truth had even told him that it was being opened on this side. But what about the Toll… the toll had cost the Shinobi the ultimate price, whatever the meant. There was no point in summoning the Gate to go home if it would cost him his life in the end.

He needed to think, he needed a plan, but more importantly… he needed to eat something. At that moment his gut let out a loud gurgle, seemingly agreeing with his thoughts. Just as Naruto was about to get up, a knock sounded from the door and he was in a panic once more.

'_Kuso, of course there would be someone here; I'm sleeping in their bed._' Naruto froze, unsure of what to do. He'd never been all that good with people, despite how he acted. Smiling and being loud, it was his way of trying to not look like a threat and it seemed to work, to a point.

But adults, Naruto was always wary around adults and there was no Old Man or masked Shinobi to help him here. '_It also means that there's no one here to point out that I should be hated._' The civilians had always made sure that the travelers knew to stay away from that monster named Naruto Uzumaki. Another knock on the door interrupted the young boy's thoughts. He took a deep breath before speaking; shooting a glance out the window that could be his emergency escape route should things turn sour.

"Come in." His voice was softer than his usual tone and his throat felt dry and itchy. Dehydrated, his advanced knowledge provided. He inwardly smirked, so this was what it felt like to be a know-it-all. No wonder Sasuke-teme always acted so smug.

The door opened up to reveal a pretty lady wearing a long white dress, black leggings, and a pair of sandals. Her hair was black, but styled in a way Naruto had never seen before and he spotted a red tattoo on the left side of her collarbone. She gave him a warm smile and her dark eyes, well they were kind and gentle and _nothing_ like the looks he'd received in Konoha. Only the Old Man had ever smiled at him like that.

"I see you're finally up young man, you've been out for two days. One of the children found you collapsed alongside the road leading into the town. I'm Izumi Curtis." The lady, Izumi-san, said politely as she set down a tray of food in front of Naruto that he hadn't noticed before. "I hope you like ramen. My husband and I run a butcher shop, but eating plain meat all the time gets a little dull."

Naruto stared down in awe at the bowl in front of him. The noodles looked thick and the broth was still steaming, but it was the meat that grabbed his attention. There was pork, chicken, beef and who knew what else. He looked up at the woman with stars in his eyes, for in that moment, Izumi-baa-chan was a Goddess in his opinion. Her look turned from surprised to happy in a span of moments and she gestured for him to dig in, like he needed the extra incentive.

"Itadakimasu!" Naruto said happily before he dug into the ramen with vigor. He paused only for a second to tell Izumi-baa-chan that the food was delicious and then returned to his meal. From the corner of his eye he watched her smile warmly at him and he tried not to choke on his ramen. No one besides the Hokage and that old man at Ichiraku Ramen, looked at him like that, like wasn't something horrible but just a normal boy.

Naruto sighed happily as he finished his bowl, surprised to find himself half-way full. Usually, it took four bowls of Miso Ramen to fill him up, but then again, there wasn't any meat in that particular dish. He turned to Izumi-baa-chan and bowed his head forwards as he thanked her.

"Thanks lady, the food was delicious and thanks for giving me a place to sleep while I was out of it. Not a lot of people would do that–" Naruto cut himself off before he could finish the rest of his sentence. '_Not a lot of people would do that __**for me**__._'

"It was no trouble at all; people here in Dublith are nicer than most give them credit for. I'm not sure how things are done anywhere else, but here we help others when we can, especially Alchemists like myself." Izumi said as she took away Naruto's now empty bowl.

"An Alchemist, you're an Alchemist?" Naruto asked eagerly, already figuring out where Dublith was due to the information supplied by the Gate. '_A small town located in the center of the southern region of Amestris, and like most of the south, it boasts relatively high temperatures. Basically like Konoha, but with more of a dry heat._'

"Yes, though like I said, I work in my husband's butcher shop, but I'm really more of a housewife than anything else. Do you know any Alchemy…?" Izumi trailed off there, waiting for the young boy to give his name. She had been worried when the small blond had not woken up yesterday, but the doctor had said he was simply exhausted and needed rest.

Inwardly, she mused over the fact that she seemed to be picking up too many blond strays recently. First Ed and Al and now–

"Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto." The young blond said, his breathtakingly blue eyes shining brighter than before. They had been the first thing she had noticed when she had entered the room. Blue was the dominate eye color for Amestrians, but his blue eyes shone brighter than any Izumi had ever seen before. "I know tons of alchemy, though it wasn't by choice." Naruto continued softly as he looked out the window, his eyes dimming a little.

"Oh, did someone you care about demand that you learn?" She asked lightly. She had seen it many times before, Alchemists who pushed their children to learn the science and become great. Some able to live peacefully with the fact that their child could not learn it, while others disowned their children, treating them as nothing more than failed experiments. It was how she'd met Mason.

"No it was… I had to learn, or else I would have died." Naruto said just as quietly as before, continuing to stare out the window, and not wanting to look at Izumi-baa-chan as he lied to her.

But he couldn't tell her about the Truth or the Gate; it was a Taboo for a reason. He didn't want to get into trouble because of what the Shinobi did. Besides, how did one explain that they were from a different world without sounding insane?

Izumi blinked her eyes in surprise, obviously not expecting such a dark answer from the small boy. "How old are you Naruto? And where are your parents?"

"I'm eight, but I'll be nine in a couple of months. My parents are – I'm an orphan…" Naruto trialed off at the end of his answer, his thoughts turning towards the parents he'd never met. He'd often asked the Old Man what had happened to his parents and who they were. The Old Man never told him who they'd been, but he did say that they had died during the attack of the Nine Tailed Fox.

"So, who's been taking care of you?" Izumi asked, already feeling her heart go out to the small boy. She really was too damn soft for her own good. Orphans were not that uncommon in Amestris, the Ishval Rebellion had seen to that.

"Well I lived on my own, but the Old Man stopped by to check on me whenever he could, he's really nice Izumi-baa-chan." Naruto said and immediately regretted it when Izumi-baa-chan gave him the scariest look he'd ever seen.

"_Baa-chan?_ I'm sorry, but I think I must have misheard you. You want to try that again?" Izumi said as she cracked her knuckles threateningly, first Ed and Al, now Naruto? She wasn't old, she was only 31.

"Uh, I don't get it Izumi-baa-chan, did I say something wrong?" Naruto said nervously as he rubbed the back of his head in a confused manner. "Oh! Is this one of those showing proper respect things?" Naruto asked in sudden realization, nodding his head in a sage-like manner. Many people use to get mad when he called the Hokage, Old Man. "I do respect you Izumi-baa-chan and I also like you a lot too. You're really nice and pretty."

Izumi paused and thought about what Naruto said. So he didn't mean it as an insult, but as a term of endearment? '_What a strange kid._' Izumi turned to back to Naruto to tell him to never call her that again, when she froze at the wide and pleased grin he was giving her.

"How can I say no to a face like that?" She mumbled under her breath before shrugging her shoulders. It wouldn't kill her to allow Naruto to call her that, at least in private. "Fine, whatever kid. What were you doing passed out on the rode anyways?" She asked gruffly as she looked away from Naruto's painfully cheerful face.

"I'm traveling, learning more about alchemy." Naruto answered happily. Happy that Izumi-baa-chan wasn't mad at him and that she might be like the Old Man. That she might actually like him and care about him. '_I miss you already Old Man, but don't worry I'll come back to you and Konoha soon, I promise._'

Izumi nodded her head in understanding, having gone through her own quest for knowledge when she'd been younger as well, though she hadn't been eight at the time, but rather eighteen instead. Izumi paused to think. Eight years old, that was the same age as Al when she had taken the Elric boys in as her students. She spared a moment to think about her two favorite pupils, Edward would be eleven now and Alphonse would be ten. How time flew…

"Ne, ne, can you show me some Alchemy, Izumi-baa-chan?" Naruto asked interrupting Izumi from her thoughts.

"You mean you want to become my student Naruto?" She asked, not sure whether she wanted to say yes or no. Naruto tilted his head in thought before he shrugged.

"I don't know how much you know, it wouldn't make any sense for me to be your student if I know more about Alchemy than you do Baa-chan." Naruto said truthfully and it made Izumi smile. He wasn't trying to be arrogant, he simply didn't know if his knowledge was lesser to hers, a rather logical reason, if a little naïve.

"Hmmm, good point Naruto, how about I give you a demonstration of what I can do and we'll go from there, alright?" Izumi-baa-chan asked and Naruto nodded his head eagerly, he _knew_ Alchemy, but he'd never seen it in person.

He watched as Izumi-baa-chan brought out an orange t-shirt, blue shorts, and a pair of blue sandals, his clothes Naruto realized. She clapped her hands together then placed them on the clothes. Electricity, from a working transmutation, shot out from his clothes and into the air as the materials shifted into something new.

His bright orange t-shirt turned a few shades darker with a copy of Izumi-baa-chan's tattoo appearing on the back of the shirt in blue. His blue shorts lengthened a little with an orange strip going down the outside seams and his blue sandals also had a stripe of orange added to them.

"Transmutation without a matrix, but how?" Naruto asked as he moved from the bed to touch his newly transformed clothes. He raised his hands up to his eyes in thought. "Oh, I see… your body acts as the transmutation circle itself…you become the matrix…" He mumbled under his breath as he clapped his hands together.

Izumi watched as the young boy explained what she had done, slightly amazed that he had figured something out that had taken Ed and Al two months to understand, though like Naruto, they would never truly understand unless they saw the Truth. She was brought out of her thoughts as Naruto clapped his hands and placed them on the floor. She closed her eyes and smirked slightly to herself, waiting for Naruto to throw a fit about how he couldn't do it like Ed had done two years ago.

Instead, she heard the sound of a transmutation and Izumi opened her eyes in shock as the floor boards twisted and raised up to form a wooden statue that reminded her of a leaf. She brought a trembling hand to her mouth as the other clutched her stomach in horror. Her innards had been taken away when she had committed the Taboo, what did Naruto lose? How could a child, an eight year old boy, commit such a terrible feat?

_And why damn it?_

Naruto looked up excitedly from the symbol of Konoha that he'd created to Izumi-baa-chan, only to freeze when he saw how terrified she looked.

"Baa-chan, a-are you okay? D-did I… do something wrong?" He asked, afraid that he had already scared away the only person who had been nice to him, besides the Old Man. In the blink of an eye Naruto found himself wrapped in Izumi-baa-chan's arms. Shocked, he stared over her shoulder before slowly, fearfully, bringing his arms up to hug her back. He started shaking and he could feel the tears, but this was different. When he had cried before, he'd done it because he was sad, but she was _hugging __**him**_ and he had never been so happy.

Naruto decided right then and there that it was okay to cry when you're happy.

~The Shinobi Alchemist~

Okay, if it wasn't clear, Naruto just got sent into the Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood universe at the time that Ed and Al tried to bring their Mother back. Ed saw Naruto come through the Gate at the moment that he was sacrificing his arm for Al's soul. Ed is eleven at this point, Al is ten and Naruto is eight.

Naruto wound up in Dublith because he'll meet up with someone who lives there and I'm not talking about Izumi. I had Naruto meet Izumi first so that she could train him in both alchemy and fighting, though his alchemy skills are already very good. She's mostly there for moral support and to give Naruto a connection with Ed and Al.

The amount of knowledge Naruto gained from the Gate is staggering, giving him advanced knowledge on alchemy and common information known in Amestris. As a side effect Naruto is smarter, but also more mature, to a certain point. He can think and act reasonably when he wants to, but he's still going to act like a kid and an idiot at times.

~Hexalys~


	2. Truths and Training

I want to thank everyone for taking the time to review!

Some of you guys were wondering about pairings in this story, so let me explain how this works. Naruto himself won't be paired with anyone. There will be cannon pairings in here and some of my own, but the parings won't be a major point in this story.

Also, please remember that Naruto is only eight years old at this point and that most of the female characters in this show are ate the age of late teens or older, except for May Chang but she's Al's girl.

~The Shinobi Alchemist~

Chapter 2: Truths and Training

Naruto wasn't sure how long he stood their crying while being held by Izumi-baa-chan, but he was sure it had to have been more than an hour. She was the first lady to ever hug him and it felt so… warm. The Old Man had hugged him before and Naruto cherished each one, but this was different.

For a brief second he imagined that this was what a child felt like when held by their mother. Eventually though, his tears stopped and Naruto regretfully pulled away from Izumi-baa-chan to look at her face. Her dark eyes were puffy and red; he guessed that his eyes looked very much the same.

"Why?" He murmured, unable to articulate exactly what he was asking. Why was she hugging him? What had caused this sudden emotional reaction? Did she cry because she was happy too? Somehow, looking at Izumi-baa-chan's face, Naruto was sure happiness was not one of the emotions she was feeling at the moment.

"Because you're only a child and yet you've been through so much." Izumi said as she smiled sadly at the little boy she was kneeling in front of. Not even Ed and Al had been as bad off as Naruto. They at least had each other and the Rockbell family to depend on, Naruto seemed to only have this old man that he talked about. It was sad and so very cruel and yet that was the way of the world for some, for children like Edward, Alphonse, and Naruto.

"Naruto, I need you to answer me honestly, can you do that?" She asked and the small boy nodded his head eagerly. "Have you ever seen the Truth?" Izumi got her answer immediately as she felt Naruto's shoulders stiffen under her hands. Slowly, the young blond nodded his head as he looked down at the floor. Izumi sighed as she studied the boy who had somehow fallen into her care. It couldn't be a mere coincidence that he had crossed paths with her. Perhaps the Truth had taken pity on Naruto and led him to where it knew the boy would be safe.

"So have I." Izumi said softly and Naruto's head shot straight up, his wide cerulean eyes instantly finding hers. "For a while it seemed we were barren, my husband and I wanted a child but we couldn't conceive. When we were finally able to conceive, I ended up falling gravely ill and our child as well. He was not able to take a living breath in this world and so, I committed the Taboo." Izumi wrapped her right hand around her lower stomach. Sometimes late at night, after having a nightmare about that day, Izumi imagined that she could actually feel the hollow parts now inside her body.

"As a result I lost part of my reproductive organs and the chance to have another child, what an idiot I was." She said regretfully as she closed her eyes to hold back the tears. She had long since mourned for the loss of her child and for what could have been. It was torturous, but not a day went by that she didn't imagine the life she could have led had she not committed the Taboo.

Naruto looked up at Izumi-baa-chan with a mixture of admiration and sorrow. She had committed the ultimate Taboo out of love for her child, to save him in the only way she knew how. She must have been willing to sacrifice anything to bring back her baby back. In the end, Baa-chan had failed to save her son and as punishment for committing the Taboo, she was denied the right to bring another life into this world.

Naruto thought it was unbelievably cruel.

"I didn't summon the Gate, another man did, whom I'd never met before." Naruto mumbled before he bit his lip. He shouldn't be telling Izumi-baa-chan this, but she shared her story with him. He wouldn't feel right if he didn't tell her something after she had opened up to him.

Equivalent Exchange.

"It was for an experiment or something, I'm not sure… All I know is that the Truth said the man wanted to cast me into the Gate and had paid the ultimate toll to make it happen. Next thing I know, I'm waking up in your bed." It wasn't the whole truth, but it was something he could share and that made all the difference to Naruto.

For the second time that day he was hugged by Izumi-baa-chan, but this one felt different. It felt sad and now Naruto knew why Baa-chan had been crying earlier. It was because she felt sorry for him, she was upset for his sake and that was something he had only ever experienced coming from the Old Man after the villagers had been particularly awful.

It was while Baa-chan hugged him that Naruto realized that she understood what had happened to him, how scary everything had been. He'd never met anyone who was able to understand him like this, someone who'd gone through the same pain that he had. He decided right then and there that he'd help Baa-chan in any way that he could, whenever he could.

~The Shinobi Alchemist~

"Alright Naruto, show me what you can do." Izumi said sternly from the other side of her backyard. It was the same area where she had trained both Ed and Al in Alchemy and in hand-to-hand combat, which was what she was doing with Naruto now.

Once Naruto had told her how he had seen the Gate she had tried to get the boy to talk about lighter subjects, which was actually a lot harder than she'd originally thought. It turned out Naruto had never had the chance to know his parents; they'd been killed in battle when he'd been just an infant. Izumi suspected they had died in the Ishval Rebellion, though he had never said so. He had no friends, but he'd occasionally played with two boys called Shikamaru and Chouji. Eventually, she'd decided it was best to just stop asking questions.

It didn't take long before Naruto had excitedly asked to see her perform more Alchemy, which had given Izumi an idea. She was curious to see how far along Naruto was in the science. The Gate granted knowledge to those who passed through its doors and she wondered just how much information Naruto had received. In the end, she'd challenged him to a fight as a practical exam. Naruto had welcomed the challenge with an unusual amount of enthusiasm that Izumi was beginning to realize was how he normally behaved.

"Here I come, Baa-chan!" The boy shouted as he charged at Izumi and she hid a smile at his bull-headed approach. She often preferred head on attacks, believing that striking quickly meant for a swift end for her opponent. She'd had to beat this type of fighting style into the Elric boys for a month before it finally caught on, as both had a habit of thinking before acting. Naruto, it seemed, would not need that lesson.

She easily dodged the high kick Naruto had sent towards her stomach and blocked the following uppercut aimed for her nose. Izumi raised her eyebrow in surprise as she hadn't been expecting for Naruto to have any martial arts training, even if his form was terribly sloppy and full of holes. She smiled slightly to herself, this she could definitely work with.

Izumi-baa-chan grabbed his side kick with her left hand and tossed him over her shoulder into the ground a few feet away. Naruto grunted as he hit the soil and quickly pushed himself to the side to avoid the stomping kick Baa-chan sent his way. Rolling into a crouch, he took a second to regain the breath that had been knocked out of him. He had expected Baa-chan to be good, but she was beating him without even trying. It reminded Naruto of his spars with Sasuke-teme a little, only that Izumi-baa-chan wasn't glaring at him or acting superior.

Naruto was proud to say that he was one of the best in his class when it came to Taijutsu, losing only to Sasuke-teme and Kiba. Of course he had never gotten to fight the girls in his class, but he was sure he wouldn't have lost to any of them. Not because they were girls, Izumi-baa-chan proved that reason to be false, but because they never really took Taijutsu class seriously. They mostly spent their time fighting over Sasuke-teme.

The sound of clapping brought Naruto out of his thoughts and he felt the ground shift just before a fist made of stone shot up towards him. He clapped his own hands and slammed them into the ground to create a thick wall of stone. Both rock structures crumbled as they collided and Naruto used the smoke and debris to cover up his second transmutation. He shifted the broken ground into five kunai shaped weapons and launched three of them from the smoke at Izumi-baa-chan.

Izumi ducked the three strange knives Naruto had thrown at her more out of reflex than anything else. She grinned widely to herself; it had been a long time since she'd had a decent fight. The Elric boys had come to her without an ounce of training in self-defense and although they were prodigies in alchemy, that talent did little to make up for their lack of skill in combat.

Before the cloud could disappear completely, Naruto launched towards her with his fist cocked back and ready to be let loose. Izumi, who had originally planned to catch his fist, jumped back at the last second to avoid getting hit. Naruto's arm slammed into the ground leaving a medium sized dent as rocks kicked up into the air from the force behind his attack.

"Kuso, I almost had you." He mumbled irritably as he pulled his arm out of the ground, revealing why his punch held such power. Earlier, while he'd still been in the cloud of dirt, Naruto had made another transmutation. This time he had created a club like structure of stone surrounding his left arm.

Izumi blinked in surprise as she spotted the rock surrounding the young boy's arm, impressed by his ingenuity. She knew of Alchemist who manipulated the materials around them to turn themselves into weapons, like the Iron Blood Alchemist, but she had never expected an eight year old boy to come up with the same idea and in the middle of a fight no less.

Izumi smirked though, as she spotted the fatal flaw in Naruto's stone arm creation; his hand was completely covered in earth meaning the boy could not use his alchemy without a transmutation circle as his matrix was disrupted. She charged at Naruto before attacking him with a downward roundhouse kick, only for her heel to come into contact with Naruto's stone covered arm.

Naruto took his chance and threw one of his stone kunai at Izumi-baa-chan and grunted in annoyance as she did a backhand-spring to avoid it. The sound of something cracking drew his attention to his arm and he gaped at it as the thick stone broke into several pieces before falling to the ground to reveal his bare and uninjured arm.

Baa-chan's chuckle reclaimed his attention and he shot a victorious smirk her way before clapping his hands and smacking them into the ground. Naruto's smirk became a full out grin as the ground beneath Baa-chan dropped down seven feet into the surface. He ran up to look inside the pitfall trap he'd created and tumbled onto his backside in surprise as Izumi-baa-chan shot out of the hole on a rising rock pillar.

Jumping off of the now stationary structure, Izumi landed in front of a slack jawed Naruto as she casually brushed off some dust that had accumulated onto her right shoulder. She saw the blonde quickly shake off his amazement, before getting back into a ready stance just out of the corner of her eye and she had to bite back a smile. This gutsy kid was really starting to grow on her.

"Well Naruto, what do you think? Would you like to study under me? Your Alchemy is good, especially for someone your age, but you're fighting is only about average. If you want I can teach you my fighting style as well as advance Alchemy theories and techniques." She said as she used Alchemy to fix her backyard. It wouldn't do if Sig find out that she'd been fighting instead resting like she was supposed to.

Naruto crossed his arms and tilted his head in thought. What he really wanted to do was find a way home and that required research. Plus, he liked Izumi-baa-chan and if she could teach him an awesome Taijutsu style that could help him kick Sasuke-teme's ass, who was he to turn her down? He would search for a way back home while he studied under her.

"Sure Izumi-baa-chan, I'll stick around for a bit. Ne, ne, can you teach me how to break rocks with my feet like you did earlier Baa-chan? That was so cool; it didn't even slow you down!" Naruto said as he brought out his last kunai that he'd never gotten to use, he might as well as improve his other skills too, like using his ninja tools. Ninjutsu and Genjutsu were out of the question as he realized he had no idea how to do either of those techniques. He'd never paid much attention in class, besides learning a few hand signs.

Naruto figured that it didn't really matter anyways, once he got back to Konoha and performed Alchemy, the Old Man would make him a ninja without a second's hesitation. Hell, maybe the Old Man would even make him Hokage if he got good enough.

"Alright then Naruto, my first rule as your teacher you must now address me as such when in public, understood?" She asked watching as Naruto fiddled with the strange knife he'd created.

"Hai, Baa-chan-sensei!" Naruto said cheerfully as he looked up at his new sensei, completely oblivious to the twitches of her left eye. His attention was quickly redirected toward the giant of a man who stepped out of Izumi-baa-chan's house. Naruto had never seen anybody as big as the towering man in front of him, and that was including Chouji's Otousan.

"Ah, there you are honey." Ookii-san said as he wrapped his monstrous arms around Izumi-baa-chan who blushed as the man whispered something into her ear that Naruto couldn't hear.

Izumi chuckled at her husband's playfulness and turned to Naruto who staring up at Sig like he was the most impressive thing in the world. Again she chuckled as she marveled at how childlike Naruto could be one second and somehow be the complete opposite when he needed to.

"Naruto, this is my husband Sig Curtis. Sig this is Naruto Uzumaki, my newest student." Izumi said warmly as she took in the two very different looking makes. Sig raised his eyebrows at her, silently asking her for an explanation and she shook her head response. Sig nodded his head, understanding that she would tell him later and turned his attention to the boy.

"How'd you get to be so giant Ookii-san?" Naruto asked innocently as his wide eyes raked over the man in front of him. Izumi covered her laughter with a cough and Sig simply raised a brow at the nickname.

"I ate my vegetables." Sig answered as he crossed his arms over his chest looking very serious while doing so. Izumi watched Naruto's forehead furrow as he frowned in thought and seemed to be calculating how many vegetables he would have to eat to reach her husband's size.

"But I hate vegetables!" Naruto shouted in dismay as he looked up at them both. Izumi almost smiled as she watched her husband bare down on Naruto, telling him how important vegetables were to his diet and growing body. Naruto argued that there were plenty of other foods that could sublimate the nutrients his body needed, meaning he didn't have to eat weeds.

Naruto's irrational loathing for vegetables reminded Izumi of another blond haired boy who hated milk just as much. She sighed to herself as she wondered how those two boys were doing; she hoped they hadn't gotten themselves into any sort of trouble.

~The Shinobi Alchemist~

Ed laid in the bed that Winry and Old Lady Pinako had provided for him as he stared up at the ceiling listlessly.

They had failed, _he_ had failed. And it wasn't like he'd just failed mom either, he'd failed Alphonse too. His little brother was now stuck in a suit of armor, probably for the rest of his life. Al would never eat again; he was no longer able smell what existed in this world and he had forever lost the ability to feel the sensations that came from having skin.

Ed bit his tongue so hard that it bled as he felt his wounds acting up again.

He'd promised Pinako that he'd let her know when the pain medication started to wear off, but he made no move to call out to her or the others. He felt like he deserved this pain, it was his punishment given to him by _God_ after all. Ed gritted his teeth to keep from screaming, but a small moan still managed to escape his lips.

Ed held his breath as he waited for someone to come into the room to see if he needed anything. The others were constantly nearby; as they were compelled to make sure that he was okay. He sighed in relief as no one came barging into his room to fuss over him.

His thoughts turned back to two nights ago, he'd been thinking about it constantly since he'd woken up from passing out due to blood loss. They had been so close, he knew it. The secret to human transmutation lay inside the Gate, but that was over now. Ed couldn't bring himself to sacrifice what he had left just for the small chance that it may work next time. He loved mom, but he couldn't risk it, he couldn't risk losing Alphonse again.

'_Alphonse must hate me._' He thought shamefully. Tears started to fill the corner of his eyes and he was sure that his physical pain hadn't been the cause. '_I will not cry, I promised myself I wouldn't cry anymore at mom's funeral! I have to be strong, for Al._' Ed thought weakly and he bit his lower lip to keep it from trembling.

It's not like his little brother didn't have every right to hate him. It had been _his_ idea to bring mom back,_ he_ was the one who brushed off Alphonse's worries and used the blinding trust Al had in him to get his doubtful brother to fall in line. A knock came at the door, drudging Ed out of his dark and depressing thoughts.

"Come in." His words were flat and strained, sounding like he hadn't spoken for at least a month. The door opened a few inches to reveal the body of armor that now housed Alphonse's soul. Edward took a dry swallow and lowered his eyes to his bandaged shoulder, unable to look at what he'd done to his little brother.

"Brother, do you want to get out of bed? Granny Pinako said you can use the wheelchair she has for her customers…" Al trailed off, his voice sounding so hurt and upset that Ed had to look up at his brother. Parts of the armor were shaking slightly and he had enough sense to guess that the action didn't mean anything good.

"Sure… Al." He said and Alphonse entered the room with the wheelchair. At some point during the transition of moving him to the wheelchair, he noticed Al's shaking slowly stop. They moved into the living room and Den was quickly at Ed's foot, sniffing what was left of his leg. As Al gently shooed Den away, Ed couldn't even find it in himself to care.

He wasn't sure how long he sat there, staring at the floor, but his miserable trance was interrupted by someone barging into the house with Old Lady Pinako yelling after them. It was a man and woman, both dressed in military uniforms. The man was tall with short black hair and he searched the room wildly with his fierce black eyes. The woman had short blond hair and had a look on her face that was a mixture of confusion and worry. His eyes drifted back to the floorboards as the man spun towards him, Ed could feel the man's burning gaze, but he didn't bother to look up.

The man's thundering steps seemed to echo through the metal frame of the wheelchair Ed sat in and as the man stomped closer, he still didn't look up. The man's presence wreaked of anger and _knowing_, but Ed felt the apathy that had plagued him since he woke up, take over once again. '_Al's already lost his body and I'm missing half of my limbs, what more can they do to me?_'

"We went to your house, we saw your floor. What was that?" The man shouted, his arm shooting out to grab the front of Ed's shirt, lifting the young boy out of his chair. There was too much pain in the sudden movement for Ed to even react. It was just paralyzing and his vision dimmed for a second before he was jolted by what the man said next. "_What did you do!?_"

This man knew, Ed didn't have to explain anything, and hearing the pointlessly accusatory questions from this stranger's mouth made everything worse. The walls Ed had built, his last defense against the tears, crumbled and he bowed his head in shame. His apathy and guilt gave way to staggering, unbearable, sadness and loss.

The memories quickly seemed to play out in front of his his wet eyes in a blur.

_Al was screaming for him, crying out for help as his body was forcibly deconstructed and Ed couldn't reach because his leg was being taken too. The Gate stood before him and the Truth was smiling at him and then those shadow-like hands dragged him towards that giant glaring purple eye surrounded by darkness. _

_The information, there was so much, Ed had never realized how little he knew until the knowledge was given to him._ _He was happy and anticipating afterwards because he realized the answers to all of his questions were inside the Gate. Then he'd learned the truth and as Equivalent Exchange, he lost his leg for the information he'd gained._

_He came back to the world screaming for help, for mom, as he clutched his decapitated leg. He was looking at the center of the transmutation circle when he heard a groan and spotted a mangled ugly body reaching out for him. And it died, he'd killed mom! But Al was still gone and he needed to get his little brother back. He used his new knowledge to reopen the Gate, trading his arm for Al's soul and trapped it inside an unfeeling shell of metal. _

_Please Al, don't look at Mom, don't see what I did to her._

Ed was brought out his horrible memories by Alphonse, who had grabbed the military man's arm, pushing it down slightly so that he could sit in the wheelchair again. He heard the sound of metal shaking again and he bowed his head even further as he suddenly realized what the action meant.

"We're sorry, we didn't mean it. We're sorry, we're sorry…" Alphonse said, the tears in his voice were easy for Ed to hear. How could he have done this to his little brother?

It was too much…

Eventually everyone had calmed down and the military man, Roy Mustang, had asked for an explanation. Old Lady Pinako sat in with them as she and Al explained what had taken place two nights ago in the Elric household. Ed had sunken even deeper into his depression to the point that he now just felt… numb.

"This is a surprise to say the least. I'd heard reports that there was a brilliant Alchemist living in this town so we came to check them out. The last thing I expected to find was a boy skilled enough to attempt human transmutation or advanced enough to bind a soul to a suit of armor. I'd say he's more than qualified to become a State Alchemist." Mustang said as he shot a look at Ed that he tried to ignore.

"Should he choose to accept the position he'll be required to serve the military in times of national emergency, in return he'll receive privileges and access to otherwise restricted research materials. Given time he may be able to find a way to get their bodies back, or even more." He heard Al inhale sharply and Ed felt himself frown, distant ideas and hopes starting to rise from the back of his mind.

"Right after he came stumbling to my door half dead and covered in blood, I went over to their house to see for myself what had happened… What was there… whatever _that thing was_,_** it wasn't human!**_" Old Lady Pinako shouted and Ed felt Alphonse cringe slightly from behind him. He couldn't deny what she said though; they'd turned mom into a monster.

"Alchemy created that abomination, it nearly killed them! Now you want to throw those boys headlong into it, would you really have them go through that kind of hell again?" Mustang remained silent for a moment before he stood up. He turned to look down at Ed who tried to remain oblivious to everything around him.

"I'm not forcing you; I'm merely offering you the possibility. Will you sit in that chair wallowing in self-pity or will you standup and seize the chance the military can give you? If you believe the possibility exists for getting your bodies back you should seek it out, keep moving, whatever it takes; even if the way ahead… lies through a river of blood."

Left alone, hours later, Ed would spend the night thinking about how he was going to make things right again, instead of thinking about how wrong things had turned out. He would get Automail, become a State Alchemist and get Alphonse his body back.

No matter what.

~The Shinobi Alchemist~

Ookii means big in Japanese, Big-san didn't sound quite right to me so I used Ookii instead. If you guys prefer Big-san instead, tell me and I'll change it. As for Naruto calling Izumi "Baa-chan-sensei", he won't actually call her that. He'll only ever call her three different names, Izumi-baa-chan, Baa-chan and Sensei.

I'm not really sure how Pinako is address by Ed and Al. Al has called her Granny Pinako a few times and Ed has called her Old Lady Pinako, so I'll probably switch between those names whenever I refer to her.

~Hexalys~


	3. The Devil's Nest

I want to thank everyone who took the time to review!

Okay, so there were a lot of questions that need addressing, but some of them won't get any answers because it would give away a plotline set-up in the story.

First off, the cover story picture is how Naruto will look after the major time-skip in this story. There is a link to get to the full original picture on my profile page so please check it out. Also please note that I changed the color schemes of the original picture and make it look more "Naruto". The outfit comes from a character named Archer, created for the Japanese visual novel called Fate/stay night.

Well, I'm pretty sure that's it, you can start reading! Oh, and leave a review while you're at it!

~The Shinobi Alchemist~

Chapter 3: The Devil's Nest

A small blonde boy ran through the crowded streets of Dublith, the vendors and shoppers alike sent him warm greetings to which he smiled at and answered in kind. It had been horribly awkward at first for Naruto to get used to the nice hellos and warm welcomes given to him by the citizens of Dublith. If he pretended hard enough, he could almost imagine the same reactions coming from the villagers.

It was only recently that he was able to return the friendliness without stuttering over his words, though he still tended to avoid people in general. Their openness was entirely out of his comfort zone and Naruto knew it would take him a while still to get used to it.

So he avoided them by traveling through the town as any true shinobi would, by roof.

It took him a little while to figure out that he needed to pump chakra through his legs to make it happen, but once he learned how, it was a simple matter of staying focused. Izumi-baa-chan, however, hated it when he traveled by roof jumping. She claimed that he would fall off one day and break his neck, and wouldn't that just be the most idiotic way to die? So Naruto agreed not to go roof jumping unless someone was there to supervise him, that someone usually being Baa-chan.

Then again, what Baa-chan didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

In the three months that Naruto had been studying under Baa-chan, he'd come to understand a lot more about Alchemy. At first, she'd wanted to start with the basics, but Naruto's short attention span soon reared its ugly head and they quickly moved onto the harder stuff. Naruto still found the lectures and study sessions boring, but Baa-chan ordered him to do it. And he'd quickly learned that not doing what she said made Izumi-baa-chan really, really scary.

In his first month, Baa-chan had actually dropped him off on a seemingly abandoned island to fend for himself, telling him he could not use any Alchemy while there to help him survive. Having had to catch wild animals for food in the past, Naruto had no troubles with trapping and cooking his meals. He still usually stuck to eating fish though, only killing the little rabbits when he absolutely had to. Finding shelter was a little more difficult, but he eventually found an abandoned cave that he'd made his own after the first week.

At first, Naruto had thought his only company on the island was the wildlife. He soon found out he was wrong. A wild man, one wearing some sort of tribal mask, had attacked Naruto on his ninth night on the island. He'd run away from the man the first time, easily losing him in the jungle-like environment by tree jumping. The second time, he'd tried fighting the man; getting his butt kicked and making him doubt his fighting abilities.

When the man attacked a third time, which was much later in the month, Naruto had been training himself day in and day out. He fared much better in their rematch and managed to knock off the man's mask. Needless to say he'd been pissed when he'd found out it was only Mason. The older man had nervously explained that he'd been ordered to attack him by Izumi-baa-chan, as she believed that foraging for food and shelter was too easy a task.

While Naruto silently agreed with his Sensei, it didn't mean that he'd appreciated being chased and attacked at random. He had kicked Mason off the island, leaving the man to nurse a bruised face and to explain to Baa-chan why he was back so soon.

The remaining stay on the island proved to be relaxing for Naruto, he'd even managed to make friends with a pair of foxes that had strangely enough, taken a liking to him. Once Izumi-baa-chan showed up with Ookii-san, Naruto was taken back to their Meat Shop and given a large bowl of some well-deserved ramen.

To the citizens of Dublith, he'd become a common sight as he'd somehow ended up becoming the delivery boy for all of the orders that Ookii-san got. His speed and size let him travel through the city much faster than Mason and the man was more than happy to let Naruto take his daily runs. Naruto didn't mind the job so much; it was sort of like training to him.

Every day he tried to beat his previous scores, running from one costumer to the next. Lately, he'd been using weights to make it more difficult; Baa-chan wouldn't let him go past forty pounds yet, but Naruto could sometimes sneak some rocks into his backpack, adding a few more pounds. Arriving back at the Meat Shop, he tried to sneak past Ookii-san, hoping to avoid being sent out another delivery.

"Naruto, good you're back, I've got a delivery headed for the edge of town. It's for the Devil's Nest, got it?" Ookii-san said without even looking up from the meat he was currently cutting. Naruto sighed, not the slightest bit surprised that he'd been caught. Either he really needed to practice his stealth skills more, or Ookii-san had the eyes on the back of his head.

"Hai." He grabbed the packaged meat, sliding it into the orange backpack Ookii-san had bought him a month ago and went to leave the shop when he felt a large hand drop onto his shoulder. Naruto looked up at Ookii-san, wondering why the man had stopped him.

It hadn't taken him very long to warm up to the giant man. Ookii-san didn't have much of a sense of humor, but there was just something about the usually silent man that Naruto liked. Maybe it was the way the man had welcomed him into his home, or maybe how the man always snuck him some extra ramen when Baa-chan wasn't looking. Whatever the case, Naruto liked the large man very much.

"The Devil's Nest is not a nice place Naruto. Just drop the package off at the bar and leave, alright?" Ookii-san said seriously and he nodded. After staring at him for a second, Ookii-san smiled slightly and ruffled his hair, making Naruto grumble sourly before turning around to hide a smile.

Maybe it was the little actions like those that made him like Ookii-san.

Naruto arrived at the Devil's Nest in record time, though considering it was his first time there, he was sure his first trial run didn't count. He approached the slightly dilapidated and dirty looking building, pausing at the entrance, before going in. '_Ookii-san wasn't kidding about this place, this whole building gives me the creeps. It looks like it's haunted._'

His advancement towards the entrance was quickly halted by a tall man with a short blonde Mohawk on his head. He stood in the shadow of the doorway, explaining why Naruto had failed to see him at first. '_I guess he guards the entrance, just like the Shinobi who guard Konoha's Gate._' Strangely, he noticed that the man had a funny scent though, one that he couldn't quite place.

"Hey, whoa there kid, no one under eighteen is allowed in here little guy." The man said as he spat out a cigarette from his mouth, crushing the remains under his boot.

"Sorry Kanshinin-san, but I have a delivery to make." Naruto said he bowed his head slightly, missing the way the man straightened his posture a little, clearly pleased with the brief display of respect.

Ulchi smirked to himself, he'd never thought of himself as a guard. He was just the bouncer, making sure none of the punks or any military personnel tried to get into the bar. It was refreshing to see that at least someone thought that his job was somewhat important. He smiled down at the kid, forgetting about his crocodile shaped teeth for a second, and was rewarded with a slight smile from the younger blonde.

"Aw, what the hell, go on in kid and if anyone tries to give you trouble, just tell them Ulchi let you in, okay?" The chimera said to the boy, feeling a little bit better about himself and his trade.

Ulchi had always hated and lamented his job, while the others got to spend their days inside with sexy women; he'd had to stand in front of the door all day, feeling like a complete idiot. Now though, well, maybe being a Kanshinin wasn't such a bad thing. Hell, it might even impress the ladies if he introduced himself as such.

"Thanks Ulchi-Kanshinin-san!" Naruto replied as he moved for the door, unawares of the slight character development he'd just brought about in the crocodile chimera.

As soon as he entered the dark room, he coughed on the thick smoke that clung to the air. The smell of alcohol and something burning irritated his eyes and made him want to sneeze. Spotting the bar, he made his way across the room, avoiding the spread out chairs and various people occupying the room. He had to jump back suddenly, barely avoiding the alcohol that had been thrown his way by some drunken patron.

Naruto hurried over to the bartender, eager to leave the loud and smelly place, oblivious to the pair of sharp amethyst eyes that were following his movements.

~The Shinobi Alchemist~

Greed watched, interested as the runt of a kid dressed in orange stepped into his bar, dodging the drunks and broken furniture with ease and not looking the least bit uncomfortable, save for the sour expression on his face. Greed glanced over at his self-appointed bodyguard, the short brown-haired man making a similar face of disgust as the little blond. Catching the man's eye, he nodded slightly towards the kid, before taking a sip from his current round of sake.

"Hey Dolcetto, you getting a read on that kid?" Greed asked and the dog chimera nodded his head, narrowing his eyes as he seemingly took the in boy's appearance.

"He smells like fox and I can tell from the way that he moves that he's been trained for combat." Dolcetto said as he sniffed the air again, grimacing as the smoke messed with his keen sense of smell. "He's also carrying meat, smells like the steaks we ordered."

"Trained you say, wonder what for?" Greed mused loudly as the woman next to him gave a lusty giggle, regaining his attention for the moment.

"Who cares? Amestris isn't exactly a friendly place. They boy was probably just given the basics on how to defend himself against the common thug." Martel said lazily as she glared at the woman draping herself over Greed. The Homunculus chuckled lecherously as she whispered something into his ear and Martel was just grateful that she hadn't been combined with a creature that had sharper hearing.

The small groups attention turned towards the corner of the bar, where the subject of their conversation shouted suddenly, quieting the room with his outburst.

"Look here asshole, I don't care how much _you think_ you owe me. The fact of the matter is that you're still twenty yen short and I'm not leaving until you pay up!" The kid shouted making Greed snicker slightly.

"Looks like Kio is trying to pull another fast one." Dolcetto muttered as he turned his attention to the ceiling, sometimes it was just too damn boring in this place. What he wouldn't give for a little excitement.

"Look you little punk, you obviously did the math wrong. Just go home and you won't get any trouble." Kio said as he cracked his knuckles in a threatening manner. The others in the bar had already become bored with the pointless exchange. Kio was known for always trying to swindle money out of people and his threats had become a common thing to hear over time.

"Oi, you want to take this outside? Fine, I'm game, and once I kick your ass, you have to pay double what you owe!" Naruto challenged as he glared up at the older man. He wasn't going to take this guy's crap; the days of letting people push him around were long behind him. He could fight, he could stand up for himself, and he wasn't going to be anyone's punching bag ever again.

Kio smirked and led the way outside, the blonde boy following him with a glare that looked more like a pout on his young face. Greed's eyes followed the two as they left the room and he brushed off his lady guest to follow, Dolcetto rising to his feet as well. Some of the others in the bar started placing bets, a few of them realizing there was more to the kid than meets the eyes, while others were just plain bored and looking to make a quick buck.

As Greed stepped into the back alleyway, he spotted the kid a little further up the cobblestoned lane, looking ready to fight at the drop of a hat. Dolcetto stepped up beside the Homunculus, his katana resting at his side and ready to be used. Kio had a tendency to take things a little too far and the last thing they needed was a body to hide.

"I'll give you one last chance to back down punk, leave and your store won't lose a valuable costumer." Kio called from his side of the alley, his brutish voice and broad stature surely being enough to frighten the small blonde boy.

Naruto was nowhere near intimidated; Baa-chan was way scarier than this guy.

"Hah, you think after today Ookii-san will want anything to do with you once he finds out you tried to rip him off? Dumbass, you'll definitely need to find a new place to get your meat from!" The kid shouted back and Greed heard Dolcetto growl from beside him.

Uh-oh, that certainly wasn't good.

Meat was a very important thing to some chimeras, especially to Dolcetto and Ulchi. This was actually the third butcher shop they'd been through, the last two stopped delivering due to Kio either trying to pull a fast one or that the Devil's Nest's bad reputation had scared them off. In any case, Kio would be getting a beating later if he managed to chase away this new meat shop after just one order.

"Tch, whatever you little punk. I'll make you regret those words!" Kio growled as he moved forward to take a swipe at the kid. The blonde jumped back and clapped his hands together before slamming them onto the ground. A transmutation activated and the cobblestones rose up, wrapping around Kio and leaving him unable to move.

Greed felt his smirk fly right off his face, eyes narrowing dangerously as he really looked at the small boy. It had been a long time since he'd seen Alchemy performed without some sort of medium.

This boy was a Sacrifice, Father and the others would be after him.

He knew what this meant, they would come for the kid and then they would find him. Greed wasn't stupid; he knew Father had little use for a pawn that doesn't take orders. He would want total control, and Greed would never willingly allow himself to be under anyone's thumb. He was too greedy to sit silently in the shadows; that was more Pride's thing anyways.

It would be best if he just left now, quickly and without drawing any attention. Perhaps he would leave Amestris completely and go across the desert to Xing or travel north towards Drachma. He could start over and take the surrounding countries for his own. And then, when he had enough power, he would return and take Amestris from Father. Greed smirked hollowly, knowing that his personified sin was getting ahead of itself. '_Ah, well, at least it sounded good in my head._'

He would never be able to defeat Father. His best chance of survival was to hide, like he'd been doing for the last one hundred years.

"Man, it's not every day you see something like that." Dolcetto commented lightly, bringing Greed out of his thoughts and back towards the nonexistent fight. The kid was glaring up at Kio, a winning smile on his face that made the Homunculus chuckle slightly. He'd always been one to appreciate nerve.

"Yatta, I won, now you gotta pay double!" The boy said looking both annoyed and pleased. Kio's response was to spit at the boy's feet, earning him a dark look from the blonde Alchemist. "Hope you don't have to take a piss asshole, because I'm not letting you out of there now." With that the blonde turned towards them, completely ignoring Kio's demands for him to come back.

"Not bad, for a gaki." Greed said lazily as he looked down at the kid, having to readjust his sunglasses as they slid down his nose a little. He crouched down next to the boy and poked his chest lightly, earning a frown from the blonde. "But now you've gone and attacked one of my henchmen. As the boss, I sort of have a commitment to defend his honor, or something like that." The Homunculus said, but it seemed only one word had penetrated the boy's mind.

"Hey, who're you calling a brat!" The blonde shouted, his hand shooting out to point at Greed, taking the small slight as a grievous insult. "Wait – you're the Oyabun?" The kid questioned after a moment, earning him an amused look from Dolcetto.

"You're not that bright, are ya gaki?" Dolcetto asked and the blonde glared.

"I'm not a gaki!" The kid shouted again, a twitch developing in his left eye as he barely refrained from taking a swing at them both. "If you're the Oyabun, then you can pay me what that asshole promised."

"Hmm, I suppose I could, but if I heard you right, you just said you're never doing business with us again. And that's a problem because my henchmen really like their meant." The Homunculus said as he eyed the boy over his glasses, seeing the kid frown slightly.

"If you pay me, I promise not to tell Ookii-san what happened." The kid offered and Greed shrugged, looking completely unbothered by the chances of losing their only meat supplier.

"And how do I know you won't just leave here with the money and never come back?" He asked lightly and was surprised as the boy smiled slightly, his cerulean blue eyes shooting over to Dolcetto before speaking.

"Well, if _I needed_ to come here, then I'd have to bring your orders, right?" The boy asked in a sly tone, his face twisting into a look of pure mischief. Greed caught on quickly and raised a questioning brow, distantly noticing that the marks on the kid's face resembled whiskers.

"Oh? And why would you have to come back here?" Greed probed, his eyes going to Dolcetto who simply looked uninterested.

"Well, since he's going to be teaching me how to use a sword, you'll be seeing a lot more of me." The gaki explained, pointing at Dolcetto as a large grin stretched over his face, the whisker-like marks curving upwards slightly. Was this kid a chimera too? It would explain why his scent smelt like a fox to Dolcetto.

"_**WHAT!**_" Dolcetto shouted and Greed grinned, an understanding look passing between him and the gaki.

"Makes sense to me." The Homunculus agreed as he pulled out the forty yen that Kio owed and paid the kid, ignoring the way that Dolcetto flailed his arms in order to get their attention. "Well, Dolcetto, looks like you just got yourself a student."

"_No, no, no!_ I'm not taking in this kid as my student. I've never even taught anyone how to use a sword before!" Dolcetto shouted and Greed brought a finger up to his ear, cringing slightly from how loud the chimera was screaming. He waved goodbye to the gaki, only to be ignored as the kid stared avidly up at his new teacher.

"Thanks for offering to be my teacher, Sensei!" The blonde chirped as he suddenly appeared in front of the dog chimera, causing Dolcetto to drop his arms and slump forward. The swordsmen stared down at the ground glumly, knowing that he'd already lost the argument.

"Yeah, sure, whatever. What's your name kid?" Dolcetto asked tiredly and Greed paused long enough in the doorway so that he could hear the gaki's reply.

"Naruto Uzumaki."

~The Shinobi Alchemist~

Ookii-san was waiting for Naruto when he returned to the shop twenty yen richer. He told the large man that he'd actually earned the extra money after he'd found an old man trying to pull a heavy cart to a farm outside of the city, which was the reason for why it had taken him so long to get back. He gave Ookii-san the money for the order and returned to the room Izumi-baa-chan had allowed him to use.

It was the same room he'd woken up in and although Naruto had lived in it for the last three months, he hadn't changed anything besides adding some clothes to the closet and keeping his Alchemy notes on the provided desk. As he walked over to the desk, Naruto opened the bottom drawer where his savings was being stored.

Tips were a natural part of the deliveries and for whatever reason, most of the citizens of Dublith gave Naruto rather generous ones. He was saving the money for many things; he bought different types of metals often to make kunai and shuriken with, experimenting to see what worked and what didn't. He also had to have money for when he struck out on his own. His searching for a way back to Konoha was slowly coming to a standstill and Naruto knew he would have to eventually look elsewhere for the information he needed.

Now, as he stared down at the small mounds of yen, he realized he would have to either buy a sword or the materials needed to transmute his own. Though, seeing as he had no knowledge of swords whatsoever, Naruto decided it was probably the smarter choice to buy one.

It wasn't on a simple whim that Naruto had bargained with the Oyabun to have Dolcetto become his sensei. He had always imagined wielding a sword one day when he would become a Shinobi. It had been one of his many daydreams to become a great swordsman and he'd been disappointed when he'd arrived at the Academy. He'd found out that they didn't teach them how to use any weapons beyond shuriken, kunai, smoke bombs, exploding tags, and ninja wire.

When he'd seen that katana at Dolcetto-sensei's waist, he just knew that this was his chance to learn how to use a sword. While Dolcetto-sensei hadn't seemed all that enthusiastic about taking him as a student, he wasn't against the idea either. Sensei had asked him about his previous training and Naruto told him about his intermediate skills at martial arts and about his proficient level in Alchemy.

Dolcetto-sensei gave him a new training regime to add to the one Izumi-baa-chan already had him on, having Naruto focus on his upper body strength and endurance. The blonde was more than eager to get started and he quickly left his bedroom to go to the backyard, swiftly passing Baa-chan's room on the way. He paused slightly, looking at his first Sensei from the doorway and taking in her sleeping form.

She had been sick for the past couple of days, tired and coughing up blood occasionally. It had shocked Naruto when he'd first witnessed one of Izumi-sensei's episodes months ago.

The violent upheaval of dark red, the sound of it splattering across the kitchen table, the way she had collapsed onto the floor. It had terrified Naruto and he'd been so thankful that Ookii-san was in the other room at the time. Baa-chan had then told him about her condition; about the state her body was left in after her attempt at Human Transmutation.

She was dying and it was only a matter of time.

Naruto hadn't known how to react to that, he'd never lost anyone before and the thought that Baa-chan would soon be gone wasn't a future that he could visualize. He'd told her as much at the time, eyes wet and face tearstained as he asked her what he should do when she finally passed on. Her advice had been simple, cruel and somehow comforting. He would never forget her words for as long as he lived.

"_Everyone dies Naruto, some sooner than others and it's always sad. I won't be the only person in your life whom you can't save. But that's just how life is. The only thing you can do is stand up, brush yourself off and move forward. You've got a strong pair of legs Naruto; I know you'll put them to good use._"

He looked back down the hallway, hearing Ookii-san calling him to deliver another order and he sighed. It looked like he wouldn't be able to start his new training until tomorrow. He went to leave, but stopped to look back at his Sensei, her words somehow able to help him accept the sight of her with an easier heart.

"Don't worry Baa-chan, I won't ever give up or stop moving forwards."

~The Shinobi Alchemist~

Kanshinin basically means a guardian, like a security guard. Since Ulchi-Kanshinin-san is such a mouthful, I'll find some way to shorten it. Ulchi never had a very large part, in either the two anime series or the manga. Still, he's a part of Greed's gang and he's supposedly perverted so I think I'm going to have a lot of fun writing him. Kio is a complete OC, I just wanted Naruto to get into a fight so that he would catch Greed's eye.

Obviously gaki means brat and yatta basically means "I did it"; it's supposed to be an expression of joy. Oyabun means boss and that's what Naruto is going to call Greed from now on.

I haven't picked out Naruto's nickname for Dolcetto yet, but I will and it'll have something to do with dogs. There isn't going to be much of a time jump in the next chapter, basically only a week will have passed.

~Hexalys~


	4. Chimeras and a Homunculus

I want to thank everyone for taking the time to review!

To **N.A.B. 0206**, Naruto is definitely going to meet Scar. Remember, I had the Gate give Naruto information on a lot of topics, one of these topics being the war in Ishval and the religious teachings of Ishvala. I honestly can't wait for the moment when Naruto and Scar meet.

I lot of you guys are asking what's the point for Naruto to return home, seeing as he has what he always wanted in Amestris with Izumi, and he's obviously going to make friends with Greed and the others. I know exactly what you're talking about, trust me, I get it. I know this is precisely what Naruto has always wanted, to be accepted by others and have friends. I have it all planned out, besides this is going to be a long story so don't worry about the ending right now.

Oh, oh, look a new chapter! Do you know what the means? It means you get to leave me more reviews! Yay!

~The Shinobi Alchemist~

Chapter 4: Chimeras and a Homunculus

Naruto woke up bright and early, the birds just waking up to start their day as he ran outside to begin his morning training. It had only been a week since he'd met Dolcetto-sensei and tomorrow would be his first official day of training under the swordsman.

He'd met up with Dolcetto-sensei the morning after he'd encountered the man, eagerly wanting to learn how to use a sword as quickly as possible. However, when Dolcetto-sensei had found out he had zero experience with a sword; the man had given him a few sets of basic stances and attacks to practice and familiarize himself with. Naruto had, begrudgingly, promised to go through the katas and agreed to return in a week so that Dolcetto-sensei could teach him the next set of moves.

It had been awkward at first for Naruto, standing in Izumi-baa-chan's backyard with a bokken gripped in his hands as he clumsily practiced his katas. Dolcetto-sensei didn't want him using a real sword until he mastered the basics. A smart move on his Sensei's part, had Naruto been using a real sword, he was pretty sure he wouldn't have any fingers at this point.

It was a surreal experience for Naruto to practice the sword katas Dolcetto-sensei had given him, mainly because they were the first moves Naruto had ever actually practiced on his own. When it came to Taijutsu, his teachers at the Academy hadn't really told him what to do. "Punch when you see an opening, block when you need to." That was the extent of knowledge his teachers had shared with him when it came to fighting. Naruto had been forced to figure out where to go from there on his own.

He'd seen the other kids go through Taijutsu stances and moves from a distance. He'd tried to emulate them as best he could, but eventually he gave up and went with more of an anything goes kind of fighting style. He'd had no technique, no forms, and no sense of timing. It was no wonder Sasuke-teme had always been able to wipe the floor with him.

Thankfully, Baa-chan had been teaching him her style the last few months. Naruto couldn't wait to show the Old Man just how awesome he'd become.

So after a week of going through the same moves over and over again, Naruto was certain he at least had a basic understanding of how to use a sword. Besides the sword katas, Dolcetto-sensei had also given him exercises designed to increase his upper body strength and speed. Along with the leg lifts, sit ups, laps and sparring that Izumi-sensei had assigned him; Naruto also had pushups, pull ups, and weighted training to do for Dolcetto-sensei.

Naruto could honestly say he'd never exerted himself as much as he had during the past week.

Running to the Devil's Nest, he arrived earlier than last time, beating his last mark by forty seconds. Maybe he should try asking Baa-chan if he could increase his weights again, forty pounds was beginning to feel too easy. Pausing to say a hello to Ulchi-Kanshinin-san, Naruto excitedly entered the Devil's Nest to find his Sensei. With cerulean blue eyes searching for their target, Naruto shouted as he spotted not his Sensei, but someone who might know where his teacher was.

"Oyabun! Oi, Oyabun!" Were the words Naruto had shouted that punctured Greed's hazy mind, he turned away from the very hot redhead he'd been necking and sent an irritated glare at the idiot who'd interrupted him. He spotted a flash of orange racing over to him and gave a tired sigh.

"Oh, it's just you. What do you want gaki, can't you see I'm in the middle of something?" He grinned over at the woman next to him and she blushed heavily in response, her soft hand brushing over the marks he'd left on her neck.

"Ne, lady you okay? The Oyabun didn't hurt you did he?" Naruto asked as he spotted the woman's red faced and bruised skin, he sent a dark look over at the Oyabun, before looking back up at her in concern. She stared at him for a second and Naruto started to worry that he might have done or said something wrong, before she let out a high pitched squeal that hurt his ears.

"Kawaii!" She shouted and Naruto took a step back, looking uncertain as he pointed at himself.

"Eh? Who? Me?" He asked in confusion, looking behind him for the person that she must have been talking about. Nobody had ever called him cute before. He was therefore taken by surprise as her arms wrapped around him, pressing his blushing face into her very large breasts.

"Aren't you just the cutest thing ever!" She cooed and Greed could only stare in a daze as the little runt stole all the attention from his buxom babe, unable to get over his disbelief. Had he just been cock-blocked by toddler? "Is he your son, Greed-sama?" It took Greed a second to process her question, which was enough time for Naruto to free himself from a suffocating death, though he silently admitted it wouldn't be the worse way to go.

"No way in hell!" They both shouted at the same time, blush still heavily evident on Naruto's face. They turned to glare at each other and the woman giggled slightly, earning a pout from Naruto, which got him another hug.

"What the hell are you doing here gaki?" Greed asked irritably, watching as the redhead left the bar. When he'd tried to ignore the brat and continue what they'd started, the woman had stopped him, saying that she couldn't destroy a little boy's innocence. "The meat we ordered from last week hasn't run out yet, so I know you're not here to make a delivery."

"I'm here for my lessons; do you know where Dolcetto-sensei is?" Naruto asked as he furiously wiped off the pink lipstick stain from the side of his cheek. He hoped all ladies wouldn't react to him like the last one, he didn't think he could handle it if women kept calling him kawaii. He couldn't become a badass Shinobi with that description hanging over his head.

"Huh? How the hell am I supposed to know where he is gaki?" Greed asked as he placed a hand on the back of his neck and cracked it back and forth.

"Stop calling me gaki, Oyabun!" The blonde runt shouted and Greed furrowed his eyebrows as his amethyst eyes sharpened in interest behind his sunglasses. Was the kid going to keep calling him boss? Did this kid become one of his henchmen without either of them realizing it?

"You're what, five? That makes you a gaki, kid." He said dismissively as he waved his hand over at Kio, signaling the idiot to bring over some sake.

"I'm not five, I'm nine!" Naruto argued as a warm feeling filled his chest, making him smile slightly. He'd turned nine a month ago on October 10th.

Usually, his birthday only represented bad things back in Konoha, the Kyūbi attack, the Yondaime dying to save the village. Nobody, besides the Old Man, had celebrated his birthday. Well, Inu-san usually gave him a gift. Last year the white masked, silver-haired Shinobi had given him Gama-chan. Naruto frowned for a second, he missed his little toad wallet.

This year though, when Naruto had shyly told Baa-chan that his birthday was on the tenth, she, Ookii-san, and Mason had thrown him a party, inviting the neighbors and their children. Naruto had played games with the other kids, unwrapped a dozen presents, and had been sung happy birthday to by everyone in the room before blowing out the candles on his cake.

It was the best birthday he'd ever had; the only thing that could have made it better was if the Old Man had been there too.

"Seriously, you're like three feet tall, you don't even reach my hips." Greed snickered at the brat as Kio finally arrived with his drink. Greed saw him shoot a dark look at Naruto, his fists clenching in anger. The Homunculus sent his own glare at Kio, pleased to see the man pale slightly before quickly returning to the bar. His eyes followed Kio and when the man hesitantly looked back up, Greed was sure the bartender understood his silent message.

The gaki was off limits.

"I am not short, besides, I'm still growing you dumbass!" He shouted indignantly as he barely resisted the urge to pout angrily. It wasn't his fault he was so small, it's not like he'd had a good diet growing up.

The lady at the orphanage had always underfed him, sometimes withholding his meals if he'd done something bad. Once the Old Man had moved him into his own apartment and given him a weekly stipend, the only thing Naruto could afford was instant ramen. At the time, the grocer had claimed that there'd been some sort of orphan tax; Naruto honestly couldn't believe how gullible he used to be.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." The Homunculus said flatly, bored with the conversation already. Suddenly, Greed spotted a flash of blonde among the sea of brown and black hair. "Hey Martel, get over here, I got someone I want you to meet."

Naruto spotted the woman Oyabun had called out to. She had blonde hair that was a few shades darker than his, dark green eyes and some sort of tattoo that started on her right shoulder and ended on her lower right cheek. When she reached them, Naruto discovered that she oddly enough, smelt like snakes.

"She's not going to try to smother me too, is she?" He asked Oyabun warily, earning him a raised brow from the woman and a snigger from the man.

"Hah, you wish you were that lucky. I don't think Martel here finds anything cute." Greed said and the kid sighed with relief before looking up at the snake chimera with appraising eyes. Martel seemed to pass some sort of test, because the runt nodded after a minute and smiled, apparently pleased with what he saw.

"That's not true Greed; I find that rattlesnakes can be very adorable." Martel replied evenly as she too assessed the gaki, her dark green eyes roving over the child in a snake-like manner, as if she were deciding whether he was prey or not.

"Nice to meet you Martel-nee-chan, I'm Naruto!" The runt said excitedly as he smiled up brightly at Martel. It was a somewhat fascinating thing for Greed to watch, to see a hardened soldier like Martel react to such a childish and innocent introduction.

Surprise took over her face first, which was understandable since being unpredictable seemed to be the gaki's specialty. It was the face she made afterword that really astonished Greed. For second, her usually stern expression softened and the tips of her mouth twitched upwards suddenly. Then it all disappeared in the blink of an eye, a blank look replacing any expressions, making Greed almost believe that he'd just imagined the whole thing.

The gaki was smiling wider than before though; so he'd obviously seen Martel's moment of weakness too.

"Have you seen Dolcetto anywhere recently? The gaki is looking for him." He asked after a moment, seeing as Martel and Naruto were content with just staring at each other. Humans were so odd sometimes.

"I think I saw him heading towards the roof a little while ago, you can try there." Martel said more to him than to Naruto, not that the kid seemed to notice. "Why is the kid even here?"

"I made a deal with Oyabun. I'll keep bringing your orders from Ookii-san's shop if Dolcetto-sensei teaches me Kenjutsu!" Naruto explained excitedly, cutting off Oyabun before the guy had any chance to discredit him in front of Martel-nee-chan. She reminded him a little of that purple haired Kunoichi who'd protected him from a couple of villagers once, she'd smelt like snakes too.

"Is that so? I got to see this, Dolcetto playing teacher. I bet it'll be hilarious." Nee-chan said as she chuckled a little, making Oyabun laugh too. Naruto didn't really get it, but he smiled anyways and nodded in agreement, making Oyabun laugh a little harder. "C'mon, I'll show how to get to the roof."

Naruto followed eagerly, barely noticing that the Oyabun had decided to follow them.

~The Shinobi Alchemist~

Dolcetto sighed happily as he sat on the rooftop of the Devil's Nest; legs crossed and back slumped up against the doorway to the roof. This was the one place he could come to and get some peace and quiet, not that he usually desired those things. He liked being rowdy, getting drunk and partying with the others. This moment of isolation was more a requirement than anything else; he needed to meditate, to keep his mind clear and focused.

As a swordsman, he'd been taught to meditate often. It helped him stay calm in battle; it made him think clearly before striking out at this enemies. Sure, as a Chimera, Dolcetto had come to rely on his instincts more than ever when he fought now, but the years of swordsmanship had been hammered into him, making meditation a natural part of his life.

He closed his dark eyes and breathed in the warm air deeply, smiling at the way the slight wind ruffled his short hair and clothes. When he'd been younger, meditation had always been an annoyance, now Dolcetto found that he rather enjoyed the activity of doing nothing. There was a certain stillness in the action that his body actually seemed to like.

It was there on the roof where he could find the solitude he needed to meditate, no one ever came up there.

Which was why Dolcetto was taken by complete surprise as the door he was leaning against was suddenly flung open, throwing him a good few feet into the air and crashing face first in the roof's surface.

"See, I knew he was up here." Dolcetto heard Martel say as he twisted around, holding onto his aching nose and saw the woman standing in the doorway with her left foot still in the air.

"Why the hell did you kick the door open! Can't you be a normal person for once and open it right?" He shouted as he stood up. Martel glared at him and it was almost enough to make him back down, but then his nose gave another painful throb, refueling his anger.

"Shut the hell up before I skin you and turn you into a throw rug. You're the idiot who was leaning against the door." Martel hissed back and Dolcetto growled lowly. "Besides, you have some obligations to uphold, serves you right for shirking your duties."

"What are you talking abo–" Dolcetto started to say before a flash of orange charged towards him with a wooden sword trailing behind it. He groaned and saw Martel snicker with Greed standing right behind her.

"Dolcetto-sensei, I'm here for my next lesson!" Naruto shouted and Dolcetto sighed heavily, his shoulders slumped downwards as all the anger drained out of him to be replaced with resignation. He sent a glare towards a smiling Greed. '_Damn you, boss!_'

"Did you memorize the katas I taught you last week?" He asked and the boy nodded so fast he thought the kid's head might pop off. "Then show me, perform a basic overhead cut, followed up with a side slash, then finish up with a horizontal strike." He saw the blonde nod again and watched with scrutiny as the boy went into his ready stance.

The bokken rested in both hands, coming out at a 120 degree angle from the gaki's hips. His legs were spread a couple feet apart and his knees were bent forwards slightly. All in all, the starting stance was good. Once the kid got older he'd be able to modify it to suit his style, but for right now the basics would have to do.

"Pretty good kid, loosen your shoulders a little and don't grip your sword so hard, you'll get a better flow in movement that way." Naruto made the adjustments his teacher had pointed out and began performing the katas. He wasn't sure how fast he was supposed to go, so he went with a medium pace. His sensei only had a few corrections to make, but they weren't anything serious. Naruto just needed to hold his sword a little lower or he'd needed to spread his feet further apart.

"Not bad kid, not bad at all. I can tell you've been practicing. This time I want you to go as fast as you can, but don't sacrifice your form for speed. A poorly performed attack could give your enemy the opportunity they need to strike you down." Dolcetto said, honestly a little impressed with how fast Naruto had picked up on the katas and with how seriously he was taking it.

Naruto nodded and performed the katas as fast as he could, making sure he didn't mess anything up. His speed wasn't a whole lot faster, but there was a noticeable difference. When he finished the horizontal strike, he looked to his Sensei and found the man smirking slightly, which made Naruto grin widely. They moved on to review the other forms and once Dolcetto-sensei was satisfied, he taught Naruto the next set of katas.

"I want you to try to combine these katas together to make your own attacks, slowly, once you've got the basics down, you can add them to your fighting and develop your own style of Kenjutsu." Dolcetto-sensei said as Naruto's lesson came to an end. "That's what your goal should be gaki, to take the things I teach you and make them your own."

"Hai, Dolcetto-sensei." Naruto replied as he lowered his bokken and swiped away the sweat on his forehead.

He looked over at Nee-chan and Oyabun, who were sitting near the edge of the roof. They'd watched the entire session, which Naruto guessed was about two hours long, mostly staying quiet except for the few times when Nee-chan has teased Dolcetto-sensei. It confused Naruto, since he couldn't understand why the two had decided to stay and watch him train.

"Hey gaki–" Oyabun called and Naruto turned to growl at the man, his grip tightening around his wooden sword.

"I am not a gaki!" He shouted back, cutting off the man before he could speak any further. Naruto silently swore he'd use Alchemy to push the man over the roof's ledge if he called him that one more time.

"Are you a chimera?" Greed continued, completely ignoring the brat's protest. He saw Martel narrow her eyes as she looked the kid over and Dolcetto sniffed at the air again. Naruto simply looked confused and rubbed the back off his head.

"Huh, a chimera? Of course not, do I look like a bunch of animals combined into one?" Naruto asked in a deadpanned tone while raising his eyebrows at the older man, silently questioning the Oyabun's intelligence.

"These two right here are chimeras." Greed informed Naruto as he frowned and gestured towards Martel and Dolcetto. He'd been certain that the kid was one too.

"Eh, is that why Dolcetto-sensei smells like a dog or Nee-chan like a snake?" Naruto questioned as he and Dolcetto-sensei approached the Oyabun. The others looked surprised by his words but Oyabun simply smirked at Naruto, as if he'd just proved the older man right about something.

"Wait a second, you're telling me you can smell what animals we've been combined with?" Dolcetto-sensei asked and Naruto nodded. "How the hell can you do that, normal humans don't have such a strong sense of smell." Naruto simply shrugged.

"I've always had sharp senses. I can hear quiet things that others can't, smell things that people don't notice, and see really far away. I've always been like this." Naruto explained easily enough. The Old Man had told him that it was some sort of special ability and Naruto now wished that he'd interrogated the man a bit more. He'd been too distracted and excited by the discovery that he had such an awesome skill at the time though.

"What's with the marks on your face then?" Nee-chan asked and Naruto crossed his arms and glared out at the city.

"Their birthmarks, I've always had them." He answered shortly. He'd never had a problem with the marks on his face; in fact he'd always thought they were pretty cool. The villagers had hated them though and the other kids at the Academy had always made fun of them.

"Okay, then how come you smell like fox?" Dolcetto-sensei asked and Naruto opened his mouth to respond, but froze as the man's words sunk in. Naruto took a sniff at himself, but didn't smell anything out of the ordinary. He stared up at his Sensei in confusion, honestly unable to explain that last one.

"I smell like a fox?" He asked uncertainly and his Sensei nodded. Naruto bit his lower lip and tried to think of a reason for why that was. Sure he'd played with those to foxes months ago on the island, but their scents wouldn't still be on him now. "I don't know. I didn't realize I smelt like one." He answered quietly, unsettled with the new information.

Foxes were not liked in Konoha, everyone hated them. After the Kyūbi attack, the villagers and Shinobi of Konoha started a yearly ritual where they would kill as many foxes as they could. The Old Man always made sure that Naruto stayed inside his apartment on that day, though Naruto had no idea why, but he could take a guess. The villagers had always been especially aggressive towards him during the days approaching the hunt.

The fact that he'd apparently smelt like a fox, most likely throughout his entire life, made his stomach clench with a feeling that he couldn't place. Was this why the villagers hated him, had they smelt the fox scent on him too? No that couldn't be it, Dolcetto-sensei said that normal people didn't have senses that sharp.

"_Get out of here you damn fox!_" How many times had Naruto heard one of the villagers call him that? The Shinobi who'd sent him into this world had called him that too. Naruto scrunched his face and tried to understand why. Why did he smell like a fox? Why did the villagers call him that?

_Why did they hate him?_

"Hey gaki, you okay?" Naruto's head snapped up to yell at whoever had insulted him, but the words died on his tongue as he realized that there was something wet on his cheeks. He brushed his hands over his face, mortified to find that he was crying. He turned away from the others and wiped away his tears before turning back, a large smile appearing on his face and eyes closed.

"Yeah, I'm good Oyabun; think I just got sweat in my eyes or something. It really stung." He said as he gave a small chuckle that had no real feeling behind it. He didn't open his eyes to look at their faces, but instead turned away from them slightly to look out at Dublith, remembering how different Konoha looked from the small town. "The people in my old village didn't like me so much. They called me a damn fox, never really knew why though."

Martel stared at the young boy, surprised at how old and weary he suddenly sounded. She found her heart softening slightly towards the little blonde, who clearly wasn't as carefree and innocent as she'd first thought.

Dolcetto frowned at his student, a feeling of guilt growing inside of him for some unknown reason. It wasn't like it was his fault that the gaki smelt like fox; he'd just pointed it out to the boy, alerting Naruto to something that he'd been painfully unaware of. Now though, it looked as if he'd given the kid some sort of clue, one that Naruto obviously wasn't ready to find.

"Maybe you are a chimera then." Greed said suddenly, making the others stare back at him. "Experiments on humans are not unheard of here in Amestris; these two, along with a few others, were soldiers in the Ishvalan War. They were each injured, their wounds almost fatal, and were secretly smuggled into an underground Military lab where they were combined with animals and turned into chimeras. Is it really too far of a stretch to believe that someone might have done the same thing to a newborn? The people in your town probably knew about it."

Naruto simply nodded slowly as he stared at the ground. While Oyabun's theory was pretty good, Naruto knew it was impossible for him to be a chimera. Alchemy didn't exist in his world, so there was no way for him to have been combined with a fox when he'd been a baby. But the Oyabun did make a point that Naruto hadn't thought about before.

Maybe something did happen to him when he was little, something bad that the villagers knew about. Maybe it wasn't his fault that there was something wrong with him?

"Hear that gaki; you really are part of the gang now!" Dolcetto-sensei said mockingly and Naruto turned at him, steam almost pouring out of his ears as his face turned red with anger.

"Don't call me a gaki, Koinu-sensei!" Naruto shouted back and Martel-nee-chan burst into a fit a laughter that had her rolling on the floor, tears streaming down her face. Sensei's jaw dropped and he stared at Naruto incredulously for a few moments before he regained his wits.

"I-I am not a puppy!" Dolcetto shouted back and Martel laughed even harder in response. "Shut the hell up, Martel!" He growled at the woman who simply continued to laugh. "I said shut up you crazy snake bitch!" He shouted as he lunged at the woman.

As Koinu-sensei and Martel-nee-chan fought, Naruto turned to look up at Oyabun, his earlier gloom still very much there. He found the man staring down at him, almost making Naruto fidget as he quickly brought up another fake smile. He didn't like it when others saw how sad he was.

"So what kind of chimera are you Oyabun, the only thing I get from your scent is alcohol." He said sourly as he scrunched up his nose in disgust. Still, he guessed it was a better smell than that tobacco stench that the Old Man had, although, Naruto found himself missing that smell now. Oyabun smiled down sharply at him, the man's razor-like teeth leading Naruto to believe he was part shark.

"I'm no chimera gaki. I'm Greed the Avaricious; I want everything you can think of. Money and women, power and sex, status, glory; I demand the finer things in life." Greed said darkly as he crouched down so that he could look the boy in the eyes better, making sure to push down his glasses a little so that the kid could finally see his eyes. He watched the gaki gulp nervously and it made Greed's smile grow bigger. "And I… am a Homunculus."

~The Shinobi Alchemist~

Koinu is Japanese for puppy. There are two reasons for why I had Naruto use this instead of Inu. One, Koinu is much ruder and we all know that Naruto enjoys getting a rise out of others. Two, Koinu-sensei sounds better to me than Inu-sensei; for those who don't know, Inu is Japanese for dog.

Inu-san, the white masked Shinobi who gave Naruto Gama-chan, is actually ANBU Kakashi. The purple haired Kunoichi that saved Naruto was actually Anko.

A bokken is a wooden sword.

~Hexalys~


	5. Part of the Family

I want to thank everyone for taking the time to review!

**Fenrir of the North **said that the timeline is screwy, since Greed and the gang are out and about when they should still be locked up in the 5th Laboratory. Yes, they were imprisoned there until Ed accidentally set Greed free, but that happened in the 2003 anime, not in Manga/2009 anime. In the Manga storyline, it was never specified when the chimeras escaped the military or when they met up with Greed and made the Devil's Nest their base. I'm following the Manga.

To **N.A.B. 0206**, Naruto will not be going to Briggs for training like Izumi, he's going somewhere else. I will get into that more in the next chapter, so the question of where he'll be training instead will be answered shortly.

Alright guys, I'm aiming to get at least twelve reviews with this chapter so that I can hit eighty-five, so help me out and leave me a review. Enjoy!

~The Shinobi Alchemist~

Chapter 5: Part of the Family

Naruto panted as he dodged Baa-chan's kick, they'd been at it for two hours now and he was sure one of them was going to collapse soon. His sensei dove after him, her longer reach playing into advantage, as she griped the collar of his t-shirt and threw him across the yard. He twisted his body to land on all fours, just like Martel-nee-chan had taught him, and launched one of his Kunai at the woman.

Predictably, Izumi-sensei sidestepped it, having grown used to the weapons after their many spars. She clapped her hands to the ground and created a simple spear before charging at him. Naruto also transmuted himself a weapon, but decided to create a set of long daggers instead. While he wasn't as proficient with the weapons as Nee-chan, Naruto believed that his skills were adequate enough to wield them successfully.

Even two years after meeting Oyabun and the others, Naruto still hadn't told Izumi-sensei where he spent most of his time. She believed he went out into town, most likely to play with the other children and he'd never bothered to correct her. So naturally, he wasn't going to show her how skilled he was with a sword. That would lead to questions and Naruto couldn't lie to her.

He was afraid that if she did find out, Baa-chan might ban him from going back to the Devil's Nest. Naruto knew that Oyabun and the others weren't the kind of friends a kid his age should have. They were, loud, rude, and would sometimes do bad things. No, he knew Baa-chan wouldn't approve.

But Naruto couldn't help but be drawn to them. At first it was because Koinu-sensei was teaching him Kenjutsu, but slowly, he began to feel comfortable with them. And he was sure that they felt the same. They were outcasts like him, it seemed only natural that Naruto enjoyed being around them.

It often made him wonder if this was what it was like to have a family.

Koinu-sensei would be the Nii-san, someone he could learn from and play pranks on without the man getting too mad. Nee-chan was of course nee-chan, the big sister who always looked out for him and beat up anyone who dared to mess with her Otōto. Yama-san was the quiet Oji-san whom you could tell anything too, knowing that your secrets were safe with the ox chimera.

Bido would the Otōto, even though the lizard chimera was much older than Naruto. Bido was just so timid and insecure, unsure and unwilling to stick up for himself. Naruto liked to think that Bido came to him for reassurance. Then there was Ulchi-Kanshinin, who had to be the goofy Itoko who always shared things with Naruto that weren't exactly appropriate for his age.

Finally there was Oyabun. If there was any role Naruto would put the Homunculus in, it would be that of a Tou-san.

"Pay attention to the fight you idiot, you're leaving yourself completely open!" Baa-chan shouted as her spear pierced the side of his shirt, leaving a large tear in the fabric. Fortunately, Naruto had moved just enough to avoid being cut.

"Sorry Sensei." He quickly apologized as he returned his mind to the fight, dismissing his naïve thoughts for what they were, wishful thinking. While he'd certainly grown fond of everyone at the Devil's Nest; he doubted they returned the sentiment. He couldn't see the others viewing him as a brother or son.

That didn't stop him from hoping those thoughts to be true.

He slashed upwards with his daggers, only to be blocked by Baa-chan's spear for a moment before he swept out at her legs. She moved back to avoid the kick and he pushed the edges of his daggers inwards, making the spear slid down harmlessly into the ground. He swung at her again, but she countered by using her spear to pivot herself over his attack, landing safely a few feet away.

Naruto was about to charge forwards, but Baa-chan sighed suddenly and dismissed her spear with a clap of her hands. Training was done for the day. Naruto followed her lead before turning back to gaze over the backyard, flinching a little as he took in the massive collateral damage. A simple transmutation later and everything was back to normal.

"You lost your focus at the end of the fight." Izumi-sensei stated and Naruto resisted the urge to scuffle his feet into the ground. "You've been here for a little over two years now, yes?" She asked and he nodded, glancing up at her through his bangs, unsure of where she was going with this. "Maybe, it's time you embarked on your own training and quest for knowledge."

"You think I'm ready?" He asked in disbelief and she nodded.

"As you know, I spent a month in the mountains near Briggs in order to be trained by Silver Steiner. It was there that I learned "One is All, All is One." I put you through a similar trial when I left you on Yock Island." Naruto nodded. "In time, I came to see my training in Briggs not as a test to be accepted as Steiner's student, but as a mark in my training as an Alchemist. It was there, through self-realization and brutal conditions, that I discovered who I was and what type of Alchemist I wanted to be."

"…So, it was your pilgrimage?" He asked as he tilted his head in confusion. The Ishvalan monks often went on pilgrimages before to war to seek enlightenment from Ishvala. Was that what Baa-chan did?

"I suppose you could look at it that way." She said as she nodded slowly. One of the most unpredictable things about Naruto was his knowledge of the Ishvalan teachings. It had taken her by surprise at first, witnessing a boy who studied Alchemy recite religious annotations as if it were normal. "I was eighteen at the time, but I wasn't as nearly as proficient at Alchemy as you are now. I have no doubts about your abilities to handle yourself."

"But… I don't want to leave…" Naruto muttered as he stared down at his feet. "I like it here with you and Ookii-san and Mason and–" Naruto cut himself off before he mentioned the others from the Devil's Nest.

"I'm not saying you have to leave this instant." Baa-chan said with a warm chuckle, relief replacing Naruto's sudden sadness. It made him think, if he viewed the others as his family, what did he see Izumi-baa-chan as? "I'm just saying that it's something to think about. There isn't much more for me to teach you at this point, the rest is about discovering your own abilities."

"I wouldn't have to go to Briggs, would I?" He asked after a moment and Baa-chan shook her head. "Good, I hate the cold." Naruto could remember too many chilly nights spent curled up in his blankets, trying to stay warm since the heater to his apartment was broken, or so the landlord had said. "Baa-chan, is it okay if I go out for a bit?" He asked looking over at the sun that was already sinking over the horizon.

"As long as your back a half an hour after nightfall." She answered firmly, making sure she got an understanding nod before heading inside. "We're having pork chops for dinner, so don't be late."

Naruto responded with an enthusiastic okay, before running off towards the Devil's Nest, inwardly wishing that they were having ramen instead. Still, a ramen-less meal was better than no meal at all. And he'd found that dinner was a thousand times better when you ate in the company of others.

~The Shinobi Alchemist~

"And so I told him, that's not a call girl, that's the King Bradley's wife!" Dolcetto crowed as the surrounding group of man burst into raucous laughter. He smirked and chuckled with the others, his face flushed from the numerous drinks that he'd had throughout the night, though he was definitely the most sober one of the group. He'd told that story several times over the years, but it never failed to get a laugh.

"Tell us another joke Koinu-sensei!" Ulchi bellowed, earning another roar of laughter from the other men.

"Hey, shut the hell up! Only the gaki can call me that." He growled back with no real force behind it. Ever since Naruto had walked into the Devil's Nest two years ago, a slow but steady change had come over those who lived there. While they'd never been bloodthirsty criminals before, Naruto's arrival had softened over some of their more jagged edges.

Martel had taken the boy under her wing the moment she'd found out about his talents when it came to throwing knives. Well, Naruto had called them Kunai; Martel was the one who called them knives. Naruto seemed to be the only person who was constantly in her good graces and while she'd never publically doted on the boy, Dolcetto knew that she adored the little blonde.

Ulchi was also one of the gaki's favorites. He'd seen the boy drag a chair out into the streets plenty of times, presumably to keep Ulchi company as he guarded the front door. What those two did together, Dolcetto had no idea, but he'd place his bets on it not being anything good.

Then there was Bido, the only chimera in the group who looked less than human. The nervous lizard chimera had been hesitant to introduce himself to Naruto at first, afraid of how the boy would react to his ghastly appearance. Naruto had been startled at first, but he'd quickly warmed up to Bido. He explained that he could understand what Bido went through and his fear of rejection. While the whisker marks on his face weren't nearly as disquieting as scales and a tail, they hadn't endeared him to the people in his village.

It hadn't taken Naruto long to strike up a friendship in the timid chimera and in turn, Bido came to show Naruto as much respect as he did towards Greed, going so far as to calling the gaki Mr. Uzumaki. Naruto found it very amusing, as did most in the Devil's Nest.

Perhaps the most surprising friendship was that between Naruto and Roa. Roa was the strong silent type, a man of very few words and fewer actions. At times, Dolcetto forgot the ox chimera was even there. Because of Roa's reserved nature and massive size, most tended to leave him alone. The giant of a man was never far from Greed, his massive sledgehammer resting nearby as a silent warning towards others who wished Greed harm.

Dolcetto got along fine with Roa. He'd joke with the guy, who never laughed, but offered his own dry humor from time to time. Martel spent most of her time with Roa, but Dolcetto guessed it was because of the man's almost constant silence. Martel wasn't one for big groups. Once you got used to Roa's presence, he could really have a calming effect on anyone.

Even Naruto.

The gaki had instantly taken a liking to large chimera, aptly naming him Yama-san. Roa had simply blinked in response before calling the gaki Koishi-kun, which had instantly pissed Naruto off. Whenever Naruto was with Roa, Dolcetto caught the boy studying, sitting with his back pressed up against one of Roa's legs and oblivious to the rest of the world. It was the only time Naruto was ever quiet when he was at the Devil's Nest. Roa also seemed a little more relaxed when Naruto was with him, his posture not as tense as normal, his eyes closed as he leaned against the wall.

Greed's attitude, on the other hand, was a mystery when it came to the gaki. At times he seemed to be completely unaffected by the gaki's presence, going about his usual ways uninterrupted whenever Naruto charged into the bar. At other times, Dolcetto had seen his boss stop what he was doing and have the gaki join him, whether to talk or tease each other it didn't matter, Naruto was always happy with the attention Greed showed him.

Like the others, Greed had a soft spot for Naruto, only he hid it better than them.

Dolcetto, though he never admitted it openly, was proud to be Naruto's teacher. The gaki had truly improved his sword skills over the past two years, which he proved during their weekly spars. The gaki had mastered the basics and the more advanced katas, now they were working on him developing his own style of Kenjutsu. It was slow going, seeing as Naruto constantly kept coming up with new ideas, but it was invigorating just the same.

Dolcetto was sure, that in a couple years' time, Naruto would be a true challenge as a swordsman.

Not that Naruto couldn't kick his ass already, the gaki's other skills had also improved greatly in the past two years. He was extremely proficient in hand-to-hand combat, claiming he was being taught by some lady called Izumi. The gaki had also trained with Martel and Roa.

Along with knife throwing lessons, Martel had taught him how to dodge, which consisted of her throwing knives at the gaki as he ran for his life. And while her style of fighting wasn't possible for Naruto to learn, considering that Martel could extend her limbs, he'd become far more flexible under her tutelage. Not willing to be left out, Roa taught the gaki his style of fighting as well, which mainly trained Naruto's resistance to pain and how to block it out when fighting. Roa was also rumored to have taught Naruto how to use a sledgehammer, but Dolcetto had never seen any proof about that particular skill.

Bido took the boy out into the town, teaching him how to hide in the shadows and to not be seen. From what he'd heard from the chimera, the boy was better at than him now. He scoffed when Bido told him that the gaki was now trying to teach himself how to climb up the side of the buildings like the lizard chimera could.

Then there were the questionable things Naruto had been taught. Ulchi had seemed to think that it was his duty to teach the boy all about the fairer sex. Unfortunately for Ulchi, the guard hadn't taught Naruto about discretion. Martel had beaten the living daylights out of the crocodile chimera, before reeducating Naruto about how he should act around and towards women.

Greed taught Naruto about the finer things in life and there was nothing that Martel could do about that. More than a few times Dolcetto had caught a glimpse of the boy stumbling away from the Homunculus, his face burning red as he vehemently called the boss a pervert. Other times, he'd seen Naruto and Greed talking seriously about something, both their faces etched in deep thought. Greed did however; know better than to give the kid anymore alcohol after Martel had found out about it the first time.

God, had she been pissed at finding a drunk gaki.

What skill Naruto had increased the most though, since meeting them was his Alchemy. It never ceased to amaze Dolcetto with the amazing things the gaki was able to pull off. He could tell that Greed was just as impressed and Dolcetto sometimes caught the man just staring at Naruto for a minute before grinning wildly to himself. He didn't know what Greed had in store for the gaki; he just hoped it wouldn't get the kid hurt.

"Where is that kid anyways?" '_Speak of the devil and he shall appear._' Dolcetto thought as he looked over at the Homunculus that had just walked over to their group. Most of the guys shook their heads and shrugged their shoulders. While Naruto was known by everyone in the Devil's Nest, he didn't really spend much time with the others.

"He's shtill got twenty minutes till he's due here, boss. Gaki's train'n' with that old hag." Ulchi answered as he downed his mug of ale and demanded another one, making some other men roar alike in response. Kio brought over two more pitchers, earning him a few claps on the shoulders from some of the men.

Dolcetto frowned. He'd heard a lot about the old lady who taught Naruto Alchemy, everyone had. The gaki seemed to worship her, always going on about how amazing the hag could be. It got annoying after a while. He knew that Naruto lived with her, that he called her sensei too and that she'd given him a home, but it wasn't like the gaki couldn't stay with them. Dolcetto took a deep swig from his glass, feeling jealousy rearing its' ugly head.

"Tch, well he better hurry it up, it's damn boring without the gaki around here." Greed grumbled before returning to his seat. If Dolcetto was a bit dumber, or a little less sober, he would have made fun of the boss for sulking and openly admitting that he missed the brat. Ulchi, however, was both stupid and drunk.

"Awww, you here that guysh? The boss mishes his brat." The crocodile chimera slurred and the others laughed. "Never pi'tured you play'n' the role of daddy!" Even with his dulled senses, Dolcetto could pick up the growl Greed emitted and the slight smell of foxes coming from the entrance. "Who knew Greed the Avar'cious could be such'a softy!"

"Yeah right, I don't give a damn about that whiney little bastard." He growled back over the laughter and Dolcetto spotted a mop of unruly blonde hair by the bar. "I just put up with him because he could be useful to me someday!" The shout seemed to echo over the room, sounding more serious and furious than anything Dolcetto had heard from the boss.

His eyes landed on Naruto's face, the eleven year olds' cerulean eyes wide and wet with the beginning of tears.

"_Boss!_" Dolcetto shouted over the din as a new conversation started, the previous ridicule forgotten by inebriated minds. Greed looked over at him, annoyance radiating from his mild glare. Dolcetto flicked his head towards the door, and Greed's eyes followed the motion, catching a glimpse of orange as it ran out of the bar.

Greed quickly returned his gaze back to his drink, determined to enjoy the rest of his night. So what if the gaki heard him? He'd meant every word of it. Greed looked back over at Dolcetto five minutes later and was met with a hard stare as the dog chimera nodded towards the door again. Greed glowered at the man before ignoring him altogether, promising himself that he wouldn't leave his seat for the rest of the night.

Ten minutes later Greed left the Devil's Nest, grumbling as he searched the streets for the youngest member of his gang.

~The Shinobi Alchemist~

Naruto ran through the streets, bumping into the few people who were still out, and ignored their irritated shouts as he put as much distance between himself and the Devil's Nest as fast as he could. He furiously brushed away the traitorous tears that escaped his eyes, calling himself an idiot as the Oyabun's angry words echoed in his head.

Naruto knew the Oyabun didn't see him as a son, would never see him as a son. But he hadn't thought that the man was just using him like a tool!

His thoughts went back to the Academy; to one of the first rules they were ever taught. "_No matter the situation, a shinobi must never show emotion. You must make the mission your top priority, and you must possess a heart that never shows tears._" Naruto hadn't understood that rule at the time. How can someone not show emotion? He understood that the mission was important, but wasn't he supposed act all brave and cool and strong? And why would he have been crying to begin with?

He understood it better now. Maybe it was because he was older or because of the Gate, but Naruto could clearly see why that rule was so important. And right now, he wished he could follow that rule. He wished he wasn't crying and that he'd stayed focused on getting back home, instead of becoming distracted with fantasies of finding a family.

He hadn't thought about Konoha for a while. He'd become so caught up in his training and his new friends that he'd lost sight of his original goal, of his mission. He was training to get back home, to see the Old Man again and to become Hokage. What did it matter that he was only being used by Oyabun? He didn't care about Greed and he certainly didn't need the Homunculus, he had Konoha!

Naruto let out a startled cry as his foot slipped, his body tumbling into the ground in some random backstreet alleyway. His scrunched up his face in a futile attempt to hold back the sobs, but it seemed that small fall had broken his last restraints. He curled up into a ball, his small frame shaking as he buried his face into arms.

He couldn't deny the emotional pain he was in, of how badly the Oyabun's betrayal had cut into him. He'd never experienced this before, to care for someone and then find out they felt the exact opposite towards him. The villagers always made their hatred known; he'd accepted that they didn't like him. But to find that dislike also existed in Oyabun, hidden under a layer of fake kindness; it was just too much for the young boy to bear.

"Gaki…?" Naruto stopped breathing, recognizing that voice instantly, hoping that if he stayed silent, the man wouldn't find him. A hiccup broke through and he mentally cursed himself as he opened his eyes to see Oyabun crouched down in front of him. That spark of false concern in the man's eyes just made Naruto hate himself even more.

"Go away." He sobbed as he buried his face back into his arms and brought his knees up to his chest.

"C'mon kid, stop crying." It wasn't gentle and Naruto flinched at the harsh tone. Anger quickly took over though, and the sorrow that came from finding out about Oyabun's lies turned to rage. Naruto looked up at Greed through his bangs, eyes turning red as the tears continued to stream down his face.

He didn't notice the way the Homunculus took a step back in surprise or how chakra began to pour out of his body in an unnatural blood red color. He didn't notice how the searing heat evaporated his tears or how his nails grew into claws. He didn't notice the fangs that sharpened as he growled at the man, while the whisker marks on his face deepened. What Naruto did notice was the way Greed looked at him, that look of fear that some of the villagers had given him.

That was worse than anything Greed had done to him so far.

"**Don't look at me like that! Stop acting like them!**" Naruto growled, unaware of how bestial his voice sounded. "**I thought you were different!**" He charged towards Greed, his clawed hand coming down in an arc that was aimed at the man's throat.

Greed jumped back as a slight trail of blood trickled down his throat. He stared in shock at Naruto, unable to wrap his mind around the wild and dark energy that the boy was producing. He'd at first thought that the gaki was entering a second form, like Roa could do, but the energy he sensed swirling off of Naruto was in no way similar to that of a chimera.

The closest thing he could compare that energy to was that of Father's, but that wasn't right. With Father, Greed knew the man's powers came from the countless souls that were harbored in his body. Naruto was just one soul, once source of power, but his energy was just as malicious as Father's aura. '_What are you, Naruto?_'

The boy crouched down onto all overs, his crimson eyes piercing Greed in such a way that he felt like the gaki didn't even recognize him. The red mist Naruto had been emitting gathered above them in massive swirls and furious reds. They congealed and formed into the head of a fox, which let off a loud roar before shooting back into Naruto and disappearing from Greed's sight.

Naruto charged again, coming in faster than before. Greed activated his Ultimate Shield, the dark blue-black skin forming up to his elbows, and blocked Naruto's strike. He moved to grab Naruto, but the gaki jumped backwards and onto the side of the building. Greed almost paused to wonder how the brat was able to stick to the wall like Bido could; but Naruto didn't give him the chance.

A fist caught Greed under his chin, launching him upwards and onto a roof. As he hit impact, several bones broke from the force of the blow, and he knew no normal human would have survived that attack. His healing kicked in, the flash of red electricity coursing through his body letting him know that his Philosopher Stone was still working after all these years.

Once healed, he completely brought out his Shield, the dark skin covering his entire body. He looked towards Naruto, who had just arrived on the rooftop, and laughed.

"Well, well, isn't this a surprise. What the hell is going on with you, gaki?" He asked as he stared the feral boy down, who simply growled in response. "You're not even in there anymore, are you? This power, it's taking over and devouring your soul." Greed felt the Stone's souls he used crying out in pain, hollering uncontrollably from their torturous existence. And for the first time since being born, he felt a twinge of guilt for the hundreds of souls he used so recklessly. Imagining the gaki in a similar position, trapped in his own body and crying out in pain.

Naruto charged at him again, his mind seemingly only registering his claws as weapons and nothing else. Greed didn't dodge, knowing his Shield would block the attack, and wrapped the boy in a bear hug, pinning Naruto to his chest. He had to reach Naruto before things got worse.

"I'm sorry kid; I didn't mean what I said. I was just being defensive. I'm Greed the Avaricious; I'm not supposed to give a damn about some kid! But somehow I've come to value you, Naruto! You're loud and obnoxious, and you're always causing some sort of trouble. You're a gaki, but you're _**my**_gaki!" He shouted at the boy, making sure not to squeeze him too hard.

And just like that, the dark power that had been consuming Naruto disappeared and Greed founding himself staring into wide, hopeful blue eyes instead of red.

"Y-you mean it, Oyabun?" Naruto asked as he stared up at the Homunculus. He wasn't sure how he got trapped in Oyabun's grip, or why the man had unleashed his Ultimate Shield. The only thing he knew was what the man had said, his words being the only thing Naruto's hazy mind could latch on to. "B-but at the bar, y-you said–"

"I know, I only said it shut them up. I mean, I'm the boss; I can't afford to look like a softy." Greed said with a smirk as his deactivated his Ultimate Shield. Naruto gave him an unsure look and Greed sighed, tightening his hold around Naruto as he brought up a hand to ruffle the boy's hair. "Look gaki, your one of my henchmen. It means your mine from now on until the day that you die, no matter what."

Naruto bit his lip, managing to keep the tears back this time as he ducked his head and wrapped his own arms around Oyabun. While the man hadn't called him his son, or even hinted towards it, it was a confession of caring just the same.

And it was what Naruto had always wanted.

~The Shinobi Alchemist~

Nii-san – older brother, Oji-san – uncle, Otōto – little brother, Itoko – cousin, Tou-san – father. Yes, I realizer Chichi is the correct term in this example, but I honestly can't read that word without thinking about the character from Dragon Ball Z. I've always preferred Tou-san instead.

Yama means mountain in Japanese and Koishi means pebble. I figured that Naruto's first response would be to comment on Roa's size first rather than the animal he'd been combined with. Sig already has the name Ookii-san, so I couldn't give Roa that nickname. I was going to go with Ushi-san, which means cow, but I decided I like the dynamics between the two nicknames, Yama-san and Koishi-kun, better. I mean to Roa, if he's the mountain, then Naruto does seem like a pebble.

Greed was especially hard to describe in this chapter. He views everyone as his possessions, as he told Wrath in episode 14, so I tried to stick with that while also trying to show that Greed cares for Naruto more than he lets on. I don't know if I did a good job with that or not. I also don't like focusing on this angst-filled drama shit, but I had to solidify the reasons for why Naruto is so attached to the others, so that you, the reader, can understand why Naruto will act the way he does later.

While Greed's admission for caring about Naruto is less than stellar, you have to remember that Naruto was an attention starved child. Any confession of him being wanted by someone else would pretty much gain his loyalty instantly. Think of their relationship like Haku and Zabuza.

~Hexalys~


	6. The Pilgrimage Begins

I want to thank everyone for taking the time to review!

Wow guys, sorry it took me so long to update, this chapter was just really hard to write. Nothing I put down came out right and eventually I ended up shelving it for the last two months, waiting for inspiration to strike. Also, I'm amazed by how many followers and favorites this story has, we are just getting into the three hundreds and I mean damn, is that awesome or what? It does makes me wonder why I have so few reviews though… hmmm…

I threw in a few references from both Naruto and FMA in here, so see if you can spot them. Also, please note that this chapter is as long as chapter 3, meaning it's a little short when compared to the others.

Well, that's enough explaining, enjoy the latest installment and send me plenty of reviews!

~The Shinobi Alchemist~

Chapter 6: The Pilgrimage Begins

Naruto wasn't one for tears, he'd sworn off crying when he'd been seven. So naturally, when he had cried in the past, it was usually because of something really important, like now. He just couldn't seem to hold back the tears that were beginning to collect in the corners of his eyes. He kept his head firmly turned away from the others, hoping they wouldn't notice his totally uncool attitude.

"What's the matter, Naruto? You're not crying, are you?" Mason said from behind him and Naruto roughly shook his head, biting his lip to hold back his shaky breaths. "Hey i-it's okay to c-cry you know." Mason stuttered and Naruto peaked behind him to see Mason's face scrunched up, eyes surprisingly wet.

"I ain't crying, that's for losers." Naruto grunted before turning back to looking forward, tears finally breaking free as he sniffled pathetically. Izumi sighed, bringing a hand to rub the back of her neck.

"You know, you don't have to leave if you really don't want to Naruto." She said, before glaring at the small blonde. "And tears are not for losers, giving up is." The just recently turned twelve year old nodded and Izumi smiled warmly, before placing a hand on his shoulder.

It amazed Izumi with how much he'd grown over the past three years. He'd been much too small when she'd first met him, even smaller than Ed had been. Fortunately the years of proper dieting seemed to have done him some good. He was still a little short for a twelve year old, but she had hope that his growth spurt would hit soon.

She studied her youngest student's face, smiling a little as she took in his tear streaked cheeks. He was finally ready to go out on his own and discover his own path. Unlike where she had gone to Briggs, Naruto would be going across the Great Desert to Xerxes. He was leaving to investigate their style of Alchemy, which was called Alkahestry, planning to spend six months in the foreign land. While Izumi had no doubt that Naruto would be able to take care of himself, she was still going to worry about him.

"I'll be back before you know it Baa-chan, and I'll have learned everything there is to know about Alkahestry, I promise!" Naruto grinned up at her, giving a thumbs up as he did so.

"Oh? That's a pretty big goal, you sure you can do it?" She asked casually.

"Of course! I gave my word and Uzumaki Naruto never goes back on his word." The blonde mop of energy said as he raised a fist into the air. Izumi smiled fondly at the boy that she'd come to think of as her child. She bent forwards and placed a hand under his chin, tilting his head upwards. His confused face greeted Izumi as she lightly kissed his forehead, sending a silent prayer to whatever higher power out there to keep her youngest boy safe.

As she pulled back, Naruto stared up at her with wide eyes, his hand gently touching the spot where Baa-chan had kissed him. It was warm. It was the first kiss he could every remember getting. He launched himself into Baa-chan, hugging her waist as he tried to staunch the new wave of tears that tugged at his eyes.

It had taken him a little longer, but he'd finally figured it out. If Oyabun was like his Tousan, the Baa-chan was like a Kaa-san.

He left the town of Dublith soon after that, his feet taking him to the town's train station where he would then go to Rush Valley. From there he would make his way across the desert and into Xing. He shifted the pack on his back, and adjusted the katana on his waist. He looked down at the black sheath, admiring the dark orange wrappings that acted as the grip.

Koinu-sensei had given him the sword as a birthday present. Naruto had of coursed loved it and swore to take very good care of it. In his pack was a set of twelve Kunai that Nee-chan had made for him by hand. Bido had somehow gotten him a long dark orange cloak that almost completely covered his body and Roa had given him a new pair of boots that had been placed in his bag. They were black and had metal covering the ends, promising a good deal of damage to anyone on the receiving end.

Since last night had been his birthday, he'd had a small party with Baa-chan, Ookii-san, and Mason before sneaking out later to meet up with everyone at the Devil's Nest. Even Oyabun had made an appearance, which was good because the Homunculus had been avoiding him ever since he'd told them about his plans to cross the desert last week. Oyabun hadn't gotten him a present, but Naruto had just been happy to see the man.

After last year, Naruto felt as if he'd grown even closer to the Homunculus which really was saying something. Oyabun didn't put anyone at arm's length, but there was definitely a way about him that kept people from getting too close, not that it had stopped Naruto or any of the chimeras. Somehow, he'd been accepted into their little ring, consisted of the people that Oyabun trusted and valued most.

"Leaving without saying goodbye first, gaki?" He turned sharply, recognizing that voice instantly.

"Oyabun!" The Homunculus smirked down at him, giving that pointed grin that Naruto had grown so fond of over the years. "You came!" Naruto rushed over to the man who sat on a bench at the very edge of the station platform.

"You make it sound like you thought I wouldn't." Greed said as he stood up to greet him. Naruto skidded to a stop, almost hitting the man and gave him the widest smile he'd ever made. "Here, I got something for ya." Oyabun said before he tossed his own gift towards Naruto.

He caught what Oyabun had tossed at him and found that it was a strip of black fabric. He looked back up at the Homunculus in confusion before examining his gift more. The sash was simple, maybe three feet long in length. As he turned it over, he felt his breath catch. There was the mark of the Ouroboros stitched in orange, matching the tattoo on the Oyabun's hand.

"You said once, that back in your village, you're people wore a symbol to show wear their loyalties lied. I know it's no leaf symbol, but I figured–" Greed was cut off as something hard crashed into his stomach. He blinked and looked down to see Naruto wrapped around his waist.

"I'll always wear it, Oyabun, every day for the rest of my life. I promise." Naruto muttered as he squeezed tighter for a second before quickly letting go. He turned away, so that Oyabun wouldn't see his tears, and tied the sash around is head, making sure the Ouroboros mark rest in the center. He turned back, eyes a still little red, but with a grin plastered across his face, looking like the happiest kid in the world. "Five months, Oyabun, I'll be back before you know it!"

~The Shinobi Alchemist~

Naruto climbed out of the train, groaning as he rubbed his sore backside. '_Man, I felt like I was sitting on a rock!_' He inwardly gripped, instantly forgetting his soreness as his eyes landed on the bustling city before him.

"Whoa." He said to himself as he took in the tall buildings and crowded streets. He took a deep sigh and closed his eyes. For a second, he could almost imagine he was back in Konoha. As much as Naruto loved the quietness of Dublith, it had been very different from home and had taken some getting used to. Here, Naruto felt more natural, comfortable. "It wouldn't hurt anything if I take in the sights for a bit before heading out."

He wandered through the maze of people, stopping at vendors to see all the different goods being sold. His money pouch, aptly named Kuro-chan for its dog-like shape and coloring, a birthday gift from Ookii-san, felt heavy in his backpack, as if asking to be spent. Naruto wasn't one to brag needlessly, but the pouch was rather full. His savings from over the years had accumulated to rather decent amount of money, enough for him to live off of for the next five months if he spent it wisely.

"Automail, get your band new Automail! I've got screws and double balled wrist joints going for half price!" One man shouted to a small crowd of costumers, Naruto's eyes landed on some of the metal limbs he spotted in the crowd. He'd seen Automail once before, but that had been a few years ago and Baa-chan had smacked him upside the head for staring. He couldn't help it though.

Back in Konoha, losing a limb was permanent; a Shinobi's career would be finished with that kind of injury. How would they perform hand signs without an arm? Or fight without a leg? He found himself curious about Automail, as it was something the Gate hadn't taught him. He wondered if he could learn how to make it and if he could he apply it back in Konoha.

'_Do I even want to go back?_' Naruto quickly shook his head, getting rid of the strange thought. Of course he wanted to go back, Konoha was his home. His hand, unconsciously, touched the sash tied around his head, making him smile a little. He moved over the stall and found a few books for beginners covering Automail. He took out Kuro-chan and paid the merchant for the three books that had caught his eye. As moved to put everything back into his bag, someone suddenly bumped into him.

"Oops, sorry about that!" A girl with tan skin and short dark brown hair said before quickly rejoining the crowd. He brushed it off and returned to his packing, only to find that Kuro-chan was missing. His head shot back up and his eyes landed on the girl, who winked and tossed Kuro-chan up into the air once before taking off down the street.

"Hey, she stole my money!" He shouted while pointing at the girl, but no one made any move to stop here. He grabbed his things and chased after her, jumping up onto a nearby roof. "Get back here you pickpocket!" She looked up at him and smirked as she dove into an alleyway.

Taking the advantage, he dove in after her, transmuting a wall at the end of the alley to stop her. She paused only for a second, before moving up the sides of the buildings, another transmutation and a roof blocked off her access overhead. She fell back to the ground and eyed the exit behind him.

"Give back my money, and I won't have to rearrange your face." He growled, getting into a fighting stance and placing a hand on the hilt of his sword. Nee-chan had taught him that intimidation was one of the best tactics to use when trying to avoid a fight.

"Oh, please, a little kid like you is going to beat me up? How old are you, eight?" She asked with a smirk, switching Kuro-chan from hand to hand. "You should just run home little boy."

"I'm twelve!" He shouted indignantly and she blinked in surprise.

"Seriously, but you're so short?" She goaded and he gritted his teeth before clapping his hands and slamming them onto the ground. The walls to the opposing buildings shot out, wrapping themselves around her waist before she could dodge. She struggled futilely and Naruto approached quickly, taking back his money from her free hand. "Let me go you little brat!"

"Why did you steal my money?" He asked seriously, while looking up into her pinched face. He'd made sure the stone's hold wasn't too tight, but she wouldn't be getting out of there without anyone's help. She glared at him for a moment before turning her head to the side as much as her position would allow. "Alright, what's your name then?"

"Like I'm going to tell you!"

He sighed after a minute and transmuted the alleyway back to normal, leaving her held in place as he created a stone chair to sit on. He studied her looks, seeing that she wasn't dangerously thin, so she hadn't robbed him to pay for food. Naruto could still remember the few times he'd tried his hand at thievery in order to eat. He'd never managed to get away with it either.

"My name's Naruto and I know what it's like to need money." He said easily and she gave him a measuring look. It was silent for a few minutes, but Naruto sat patiently, having picked up the skill from his meditation lessons with Koinu-sensei. Eventually, the girl huffed, sagging slightly in her restraints.

"Paninya." He gave her a confused look and she smirked a little before rolling her dark eyes. "My name is Paninya." He smiled a little; glad to be making some progress.

"How old are you, Paninya-chan?" He guessed she was around his age seeing as she wasn't much taller than him. As he looked her over, his gaze rested a little longer on her chest than was strictly necessary, he looked away to cover a blush and mentally cursed Oyabun for being such a pervert.

"Fourteen, gaki." She growled, but Naruto brushed the insult aside, having come to see the word as a term of endearment over the years. "You've got your money back, are you going to let me go or what?"

"Not until you tell me why you robbed me, Paninya-chan." He answered while shaking his head.

"I was trying to pay someone back, okay?" She hissed and he motioned for her to continue. She sighed but eventually told him about Dominic, an old Automail mechanic who'd taken in her in after her parents had died in a train accident. He'd given her new legs, a home and a future. She simply wanted to pay him back for all that he'd done for her.

Naruto let her go soon after that, telling her to be more careful about whom she stole from next time, and continued on his way to the end of town, lost in thought. When she'd asked why he'd let her go, he found himself thinking about the Old Man. He had never given the Hokage anything but grief as he'd gotten older, acting out to get attention. He wished that he'd been wise enough at the time to realize how his pranks had just made things harder on the Old Man.

"He's lucky you know." He said to her before parting ways. "Dominic-san is fortunate to have someone who cares as much as you do." Sadly, the blonde found he could not say the same about himself. How the Old Man managed to put up with him for as long as he did was a mystery to Naruto, but he was determined to make it up to the Hokage once he got back home.

It also made him wonder if Baa-chan and Oyabun knew just how much he appreciated them. Sure he helped with the deliveries into town, but did that really prove how grateful he was for Baa-chan taking him into her home? What about the others? Did Martel-nee-chan know how much he appreciated his lessons or the quietness that Yama-san provided?

"Yeah, I heard it was true, the Full Metal Alchemist saved Youswell from that horrible First Lieutenant Yoki. He even gave the town's deed back to the villagers, so the military won't be able to tax them so much ever again." Naruto heard a man say to his friend.

"Man, that Full Metal, I tell ya the Elric brothers are the best thing to ever happen to the military." The man's friend agreed.

Naruto turned his thoughts to the Elric brothers, his fellow disciples. He'd never gotten the chance to meet them, but Baa-chan often said that he and the elder brother, Ed, were a lot alike. It made him excited to meet them, even if they'd become dogs of the state.

Naruto could still remember how pissed Izumi-baa-chan was when she'd found that out. She'd turned to him right then and there, promising that if he ever joined the military that she would beat the hell out of him. He'd reassured her that he understood and mentally swore never to become a State Alchemist, even if they did sound pretty cool, reminding him of Shinobi in a way.

He made it to the edge of town, finding a shack of a farm set up on the border of the Great Desert. Naruto quickly haggled for a horse to rent from the owner, and set out on his way, making sure he had enough water to last the trek across the desert.

After that, the days seemed to blend endlessly. The insufferable heat of the sun quickly turned around and reached freezing levels at night. Naruto often sought heat from his horse in those moments, who he simply called Uma-chan. She was a good horse, and he'd been hesitant around the creature as he'd never interacted with one before. He took breaks often, so as not to wear down Uma-chan and shared his rations with her.

Whenever he was lucky enough to run into an animal, snakes and lizards mostly, he hunted them for dinner, preferring to save his rations for later. He stayed away from the scorpions though, not sure if he could be poisoned by eating them or not.

At one point, he'd gotten bit by some sort of snake and had been lucky enough to hide out in a cave once he'd gotten sick. It took him three days to get over the illness and unfortunately used up most of his water to keep from dehydrating. Fortunately, he and Uma-chan had stumbled some ruins soon after.

He tugged Uma-chan behind him as they moved deeper into the relics of some ancient city. The white stone corroded and covered with sand, he studied some of the structures and spotted the oddest carving on a large wall. It looked like a lion of some sort and a pentagram around it, reminding him of a transmutation circle. Uma-chan pushed him from behind, reclaiming his attention, and he turned to see what had gotten her attention.

"Water, water, water, water!" He shouted happily to Uma-chan who whickered happily in response. He tied her up in some shade and rushed towards the well, only to have to stop as something was thrown at his face. He dodged easily, the projectile having nothing on his practices with Nee-chan, and turned to see a group of people standing not too far away from him.

They wore dirty clothes and had white hair with dark skin. Numerous red eyes glowered down at him, and another person from the mob threw something at Naruto. He caught it, seeing as it was only a rock, and glared back at the people, the scene bitterly reminding him of Konoha. This reaction was what he was more accustomed to, hateful eyes that blamed for horrible things only because he was there.

"Return to where you came from Amestrian!" A man, who seemed to be the leader of the group, said as he raised a thick stick in his hands in a threatening manner.

"I'll leave as soon as I get some water, Ishvalan-san." The man growled and the group whispered amongst themselves, visibly worried that their race had been identified so easily. He bowed to them respectfully, his teachings of Ishvala rising up to the front of his mind. "I promise to take only what I need for myself and Uma-chan." The watched him closely as he brought out a canteen to take some water, refilling it and going back to give some to Uma-chan, who nipped at his hand appreciatively.

A shout from somewhere deeper in the ruins echoed and the group nervously shifted, clearly not wanting to leave him unattended to investigate. The younger voice, a little girl's from the sound of it, called again, shouting for help and Naruto took the decision out of their hands. He ran towards where he heard the girl, ignoring the people chasing after him and their demands that he stop.

He found the girl crying in a cloud of sand, coughing as she tugged at a large broken stone pillar. She looked up at him, squinting through tears, and rushed forward, tugging his arms as she pulled him back towards the rubble.

"My big brother, he's trapped under the rocks! Please, you have to get him out!" By now the group of Ishvalans had caught up. An older woman broke away from the group to tend to the girl, while the men rushed over to the fallen debris.

"Nakomi, are you alright?" The man with the stick from earlier asked, sounding worried. The room was silent as they waited for a reply.

"H-hai." A voice said from underneath the rubble. "I-I can't b-breath Oji-san." The men moved more quickly, trying to pull the rock away without making much progress. Naruto moved to help them, but the old lady from before grabbed his arm, stopping him.

"You should leave now while you have the chance young one." She said lowly while running her hand through the little girl's hair in order to calm her down. "There is no need for an Amestrian to get involved in Ishvalan matters."

"It is one of Ishvala's teachings that those in need should be helped, no matter the discrepancies." He said hard tone, ignoring the woman's shocked face as he stepped forwards.

Those who were not helping swiftly moved away from Naruto, acting as if he was a plague. Unmoved by their actions, he crouched to his knees and performed some simple Alchemy, transmuting the fallen rocks into a large hut made of stone. The Oji-san ran inside and came out with a boy around Naruto's age, nested in his arms.

The group of men turned on him, weapons raised and Naruto prepared himself to flee should they attack. However, the old lady from before moved forwards to stop them and the little girl rushed over to hug his legs.

"Thank you mister, thank you so much for saving Nakomi!" The little girl then rushed over to her brother, hugging him with all she had. The Oji-san stared at him for a moment before nodding his head in thanks and Naruto smirked a little, bowing lowly, as was the custom in saying goodbye among Ishvalans, and returned to Uma-chan.

Just as he made to leave the ruins behind, the old lady arrived, a little out of breath and offering a place for him to rest for the night. Hesitantly, he took her offer and directed Uma-chan to follow the old lady as she led the way. Her home turned out to be little more than a tarp thrown over some rocks and Naruto, as thanks for her generosity, transmuted her hovel in an actual house with four walls and a roof.

He winded up staying with the Ishvalans for a week, fixing their homes and providing them with better materials and irrigation system to help them grow food. He repaired clothes, created weapons for them to use to hunt with and left behind Uma-chan to help them reach any towns should there be an emergency.

As he left for the desert, Ki May-chan, the little girl he'd helped, gave him a desert flower and a shy kiss on the cheek. Oji-san told him that he was welcomed in their small group and he thanked the man, knowing how much it meant for them to have accepted him. He turned his attention to Xing, prepared to learn all that he could about Alkahestry, with a promise that he would visit on his return trip home.

~The Shinobi Alchemist~

Before anyone starts freaking about the timeline, let me explain it to you. Ed and Al have took one year before joining the Military, then three more years before the episodes actually started. This of course, is if you count Liore as your starting point, which I am. That's four years in total, give or take a few months. Naruto has spent a total of three years and five months in Amestris, meaning that his five month stint in Xing will bring it to a total of three years and ten months. I think this fits in quite nicely into the timeline, don't you?

There are plenty of reasons for why I'm having Naruto go to Xing. A pretty big one is because of how ninja-like Xing is, I mean Ran-Fan and the Old Man kick ass, I can totally see Naruto picking up on their styles of fighting because of how much they remind him of home. I also want him to learn Alkahestry and maybe run into a certain royal family member.

Kaa-san means mother and Uma means horse. Also, Naruto's money/doggy pouch looks like Black Hayate, named Kuro-chan since kuro means black in Japanese.

~Hexalys~


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